Alive Cell
by Zoram Selrof
Summary: Sequel to Strategy: Zeta. It's been but one month since the incident with the enigmatic "Zeta": the Akihara Town students begin to worry over their upcoming exams. But a new cunning and sneaky criminal mind is loose out there and it won't be long before they execute a nefarious plot: no - one is safe anymore. They must be stopped before it escalates... Rated M for lemon.
1. Chapter 1: Merry City

**Alive Cell**

**By Zoram Selrof**

**Chapter 1: Merry City**

10:51 AM (Japan Time), Monday May the 30th, 2012…

"… Where did niisan go to all of a sudden?"

"To Glitch City of Glitches!"

"Whah!"

"Heh, heh, heh!"

"Jeez. Not another glitch!"

"Yessir! Brought from Glitch City!"

Hikari Netto had been sitting in a bench located close to the soccer field of Akihara Middle School: he'd been eating a sandwich and distractedly looking around until his brother Saito suddenly showed up behind him in purpose to startle him: Netto gasped and turned around but when he saw Saito's grin he groaned and seemed to get exasperated.

"Glitch City?" He skeptically asked.

"Oh my. Obihiro – kun didn't tell you about it?"

"What's it?"

"A "city" in the Gen I PKMN games made up of glitch data and incomplete sprites… Accessible through some weird trick involving the Safari Zone: it's not intended to be normally accessed… If you try to save there you might as well corrupt your cartridge! Scary, scary~!" He giggled.

"Jeez. I know Obihiro likes digging into old games to find out secret stuff but from there to you scaring me with it…"

"Blame Misfortune – sama."

"Yeah, yeah. So?"

"So? Well. It turns out someone will contribute with a catchy and innovative motto."

"Don't beat around the bush, niisan."

"With a 15cm long steel rod?"

"I give up."

"Yo! Netto. Did ya know? I've got a perv maid in my house!"

"Hiro… Stop calling Drake like that."

"Heh, heh, heh!"

A student around their age (that is, about 14 or 15 years old) joined them while telling a joke in a hushed tone of voice: Netto groaned and rolled his eyes while Saito grinned.

"Akashi Hiro says "good sense!"… And bad sense too."

"How brilliant."

Akashi Hiro's jet black hair was a mess, much like Netto's, and his eyes' irises were blue.

"What's with the chit – chat? Did ya get the ultimate weapon to beat them all from Bubble Man?" Ooyama Dekao rushed in while grinning and looking cocky.

"Oh come on! Dekao. You of all guys should know by now that whatever Bubble Man sells is a scam." Netto fumed.

"No! The Ultimate Drill Arm and Sword Arm Pack!"

"Yeah, yeah. Sure, sure."

"What's with the ruckus? Fatman. What have you done now?"

"Wha! Meiru! D-don't get annoyed at me! I was…!"

"Building up fats and calories and vile lies…!"

"UWA~H!"

"Sheesh!"

Sakurai Meiru calmly walked into the spot but she looked pretty if not totally annoyed: she began to hiss while cutting off Dekao's reply and he ran off like he was gonna be slaughtered there and then.

"Tee, heh, heh. Saito – chan is gonna date Haruka – chan!"

"Date Mama? What does that mean, Yaito – chan?"

"Oh my! Ya know so much about PKMN…"

"… Huff. The girl protagonist of the 3rd gen, you meant to say? That joke's lame. And I suddenly feel like the glitch left."

"I'm Anti Glitches Yaito!"

Ayanokouji Yaito made up a silly joke as she joined the group: Saito groaned and looked like he'd snapped out of his earlier mood: the other 3 rolled their eyes in exasperation.

"_Déjà vu_." They muttered.

"What's with the ruckus?"

"Yo! Tomono – chan! Let's patent the "Tomo no ruretto"!"

"The "Friend Roulette"? Sheesh."

Yet another student happened to catch wind of the ruckus and headed over there to check it out when Yaito pulled a nickname on him.

"Try to ignore her, Noa – kun, or it gets worse."

"I know, Saito – kun."

Tomono Noa had neatly combed greenish hair and blue eye irises: he was closer to Saito in height.

"Noa – kun? You there? Is there some problem?"

"Hikawa – chan! Compete with Hinoken in the "hi-kawa"!"

"Sheesh. My surname doesn't mean "fire-river"!"

Hikawa Tooru appealed as being 7 or 8 centimeters shorter than Netto or Hiro: his hair was also chestnut brown in color and his eyes' irises shared a similar color.

"Look. It's already 11:10! We've got about 15 minutes of break left and I wanna have it on peace. The exams are close by too!" Netto tried to break off the gathering.

"Good point." Everyone (save Yaito) muttered.

They headed on different ways leaving her alone there: she shrugged and giggled as she stepped away.

"Oh well!"

"… Phew. We got away… somehow!"

"Yaito – chan…!"

Netto and Saito were discussing once they got away from the scene and close to the P. E. material storage workhouse: Netto sighed in relief and Saito was annoyed.

"Are you really sure those glitches can't be fixed?"

"There's no point. You might fix them all and one day something in the software might generate a new one outta the blue. Even modern games like the _Halo_ trilogy are plagued with them. Every time you try to alter or change something in complex programming you get glitches or bugs: it's inevitable." Saito exposed with some annoyance.

"Alright, alright. I didn't want to annoy you, niisan."

"No. It's just that Yaito – chan's pun was lame."

"Totally."

"She seems to be somewhat of a stalker even. Always showing up to pull others into the prank show…"

"I wouldn't be surprised if she were."

"Dunno why I feel some kind of _déjà vu_…"

"Join the club." Netto sighed.

"I get the irony."

"Let's hope we can bear with the madness once again."

"Let's hope it, yeah."

"By the way… Are there any news?"

"B2 & W2? Apart from the animated trailer… It's set for release on the 23rd… It's still a long way ahead…" Saito rolled his eyes.

"I know. But it'll surely be worth the wait."

"Oh well. Let's bring out the sparkling dust." He tried to make up a joke to break the ice.

"Heh. And Bubble Man will sell it claiming it brings luck around. The guy won't learn. But since he's harmless then…"

"I know. Who else would think that setting up an empty box labeled "C4" and copying the design of a TV remote would let you blow out a bridge's pillar, anyway?" He laughed.

"Instead of Bubble Man he should be Short Man. In height and wits and strength." Netto joked.

"Hah. Not bad, Netto – kun."

"We gotta stay cherry if we wanna tackle these exams! 2nd of middle school won't end so easily."

"Of course not. Let's bring out the heavy guns." Saito grinned.

"The Nidoking and the Nidoqueen?"

"Guess that. Sakaki will come to get them back with a Sidon which knows "Horn Drill" and will put Drill Man outta job."

"And Drill Man will engage in a deadly battle with the Sidon!" Netto eagerly exclaimed.

"Drill VS Drill! Who will win?"

11:24 AM (Japan Time)…

"… BUKU – PUKU – RUKU! Don't miss Bubble Man – sama's Mega Alien Clock! De puku! For only 5,000 Z! The invention of the century: ya can know what time it's in Mars! De puku!"

"Bubble Man and the guy's ads, huh?"

"Sure, Delta – kun."

"I know, Roll – chan."

Roll EXE was walking down a street in the Internet City along with another Net Navi, named Delta.

Delta's main body color was jet black while his forearms, boots, shoulder plates, rear-pack and helmet were painted silver.

His face looked strikingly similar to Rock Man's although he had some slight differences regarding the eyes' irises (which were blue) and the shape of his cheek bones.

The central part of his helmet had a murkier silver color to it plus two rectangles and one band cutting across it starting at the back: some jet black hair came out from behind the helmet as well.

His emblem was a silver _Delta_ set against a black background.

Overall, he looked extremely similar to Rock Man and seemed to be around his height as well.

"Guts, guts. Glyde, what's Mars, de guts? A Battle Chip, guts?" Guts Man EXE asked close by.

"No, sir. It's a planet, sir!" Glyde EXE replied.

"Planet? Guts?"

"Someone upgrade his AI already~!"

"Poor Glyde. He's getting another exasperation attack."

"Anyone would, Roll – chan, anyone would."

"Ah! Delta – sama, sir. Good morning, sir."

"Red Sword… Anything on our sneaky Koratta?"

"Nothing, sir. We've deduced they're outside the country, though."

"It was to be expected."

A new Navi met with them and saluted.

Red Sword had a wild flock of silver hair which came out from behind the helmet and covered all of his body's back.

His helmet's main color was blood red as well, yet the inner edges surrounding his thick red shades had a tint of purple to them: a purple band formed on the forehead and circled the whole diameter of it: two valley-shaped cavities had been inserted into the sides of it.

They ended in golden circles: a "fin" sprouted from the top of the helmet thus giving it a menacing-like look.

His main "skin" color was black, yet his upper torso had red blood armor built over it: there were two black shapes drawn over the shoulders having a golden rim and a thin black line spread from the base of the neck to the lower edge of the armor.

An emblem with a black edge was set on the chest: it consisted of white and black halves split by a thunderbolt-shaped line: white was golden and silver was right.

The forearms were colored blood red and had two purple-colored parallel formations which originated at the sides of the emblem atop each hand's palm: they spread over the edge of the forearm while forming a pyramid-like shape.

The central body of the forearm was now colored metallic gray and had two purple circles colored yellow inside: a purplish-colored blade emerged around a cone-shaped purple-colored formation: the blade looked sharp and menacing for some reason or another.

His boots began slightly below the knee.

They had purple-colored diamond-like shapes which extended as high as the knee: they were colored blood red as well: the soils were colored purple, too.

"So? Did the club behave? Or do I need to come down and put out another fight between Cloud and Blizzard?"

"Ah! Well, sir… Cosmo Man and I are managing somehow, sir."

"About time." He fumed.

"I shall offer no apologies."

"No, I didn't mean you. I meant those 2. About time they started to listen to you and Cosmo."

"Yeah. Guess that." Roll sighed.

"Yo! What's with the chit – chat? By Haddock and Unicorn!"

"Forte. That joke you just made up is lame."

"Grawl."

Forte came out of side-alley while walking: his cloak was on but since he now kept the upper edge around his neck one could see his permanent grin: he was followed by a smaller version of the "Gospel" beast but which was at least one meter and eighty tall: Delta wasn't impressed by him showing up since he closed his eyes and folded his arms.

"I just told Gate Man to pray to the Brandenburg Gate."

"How original."

"And Meijin is looking for his missing fan-girl autograph."

"I feel skeptical." Roll muttered.

"Zero was trying to outshine Major Zero."

"That joke's running old." Red Sword grumbled.

"Bubble Man was making up "Alien Clocks" and I bought one to have it as decoration for my hut." He giggled.

"No wonder." Delta wasn't surprised.

"No wonder, oh wondering wonderer of wonderers."

"So?"

"Raf is re-painting the Vatican's website."

"Jeez! Forte, _Danna_! Don't mix me with the Italian artist. My name's Raphael, yeah, but…!"

"Then you're one of the 4 Heavenly Kings! Or I should I say 4 Heavenly Turtles?"

"The TMNT joke's outdated, too!"

Rafael used black as his main body color.

His head was encompassed within a helmet having a copy of his emblem set on the forehead with a metallic rim: the forehead piece was colored red while the rear part was black.

A red stripe extended from the forehead and through the middle of the helmet while heading towards the rear: the sides of his helmet had white armor constructed over them.

A small cavity housed the ear-pads from where a red stripe originated and was drawn across it until the end: the helmet design also included two small yellow pieces extending until the edge of the lower jaw.

His face had a hard-to-spot scar in the shape of the Alphabet letter "X" drawn above the nose: his eyes' irises were green and he looked youthful: spiked brown hair came out from behind the helmet.

Rafael's emblem was two triangles missing the base and being intercrossed plus three round dots on the middle of the formation and to the sides of it: the whole set was colored bronze and set against a navy blue background.

His chest armor had the emblem set on its middle: three parallel red lines were drawn over its upper edge and extended past the neck's base and apparently until his back.

The segment below the emblem was colored yellow and it included a red stripe on the center which extended until the edge of the chest armor.

His shoulders had the shape of a red triangle drawn on their upper face while their main color was black: a thin round yellow stripe was present just where the arms began.

His arms' skin was also gray in this spot yet it soon got covered by black armor having a metallic piece of the elbow colored in a thicker shade of gray: the armor extended until the wrists where a trapeze-shaped piece of armor originated: his hands were covered in white "gloves" as well like most Net Navis.

Two thin red stripes ran down the unarmored gray-skinned body until the waist where another piece of armor was present: it had the general shape of briefs underwear and the color of choice was black as well: yet another red stripe ran down the center of it and curved to continue towards the rear.

One gun-belt colored silver was attached on the waist and had holsters for two guns which looked like modified handguns colored purple and having a white muzzle.

His boots began over the knees and extended until the feet: the color of choice was black again and there also was a red stripe running down the length of them across the center: the outer sides of each one had a white-colored triangle-shaped cavity which had a lower edge and a red stripe running down the rightmost edge: the heels' armor was gray as well.

Lastly, two white triangle-like extensions protruded from the rear of his body and extended diagonally towards the ground in a SE direction.

Overall, he looked heavily customized and cool.

"Heh, heh, heh. Oh yeah. I checked on something." He let out.

"On what or who?" Roll looked suspicious.

"Whoa. Mistress. Don't look at me like I'm guilty of some crime!"

"I just feel like you've done something _bad_. VERY bad."

"I meant to say that I checked on a group of 13 Heel Navis who believed they were the "13 Knights of Doom"… I saw Blues and Search Man beat them in a flash." He explained.

"Ah. If it's just that…"

"Desu? Is there some problem?"

Ice Man happened to walk down the road into the right side of the square where they all were at right now.

"Nothing important, Ice Man." Roll told him.

"Good morning, ladies and gentlemen." Number Man greeted as he caught up with them.

"You look pretty beaten, Number Man." Delta spotted.

"Oh yes. I was hunting for Rare Chips in the Reverse Internet and I got some. I hope Yamitarou will pay more attention to the store from now on." He explained.

"DE MASU~! My new Yamitarou Charm will protect me from evil sorcerers! MASU~!" Higure Yamitarou exclaimed over Number Man's radio band.

"Behold! The Subspace Emissary~!" Forte called out.

"MASU~!"

CRASH!

"Oh come on." Number Man fumed.

"Heh, heh, heh. It turns out the SE has a twin bro! Or maybe the SE is the twin bro? Heh, heh, heh."

"If you mean Tabuu… I'd spotted that, too. But the guy is not a copy of the in-game Tabuu. Mr. Vadous did tell us that he was a Navi that he had designed several years ago and then went off on his own." Delta rolled his eyes and sighed.

"I know, Delta Team!"

"Have you got something USEFUL to do?"

"Hmmm… Sure. Dropping by Serenade's and have a chat about chit-chatting parrots in the Devil's Inn. Heh, heh, heh. And maybe I'll introduce ya to the guy's pal…" He blinked Delta an eye.

"Don't bother to." Delta drily replied.

"Let's go, Gospel Jr.!"

Forte walked away along with "Gospel Jr." while the group sighed and began to disband.

"Red. Just don't get obsessed with trying to find "Zeta": if they said they only wanted to test us by stirring up that of some weeks ago then they surely aren't coming back. Keep an eye out on the Z – Militia trio just in case: you never know. Those are dangerous. And I don't think the prison can hold them at bay forever."

"Good point, sir. I shall go investigate, sir."

"Excellent. I'm counting on you, Red."

"Roger, sir!"

Red Sword ran off while Number Man nodded at them and exited the Internet City: Roll opened a screen and checked a schedule: she shrugged and didn't seem to be worried.

"By the way, Delta - kun…"

"Yes, Roll – chan?"

"Is it true? Meiru – chan says Hiro – kun claims that you are his house's maid."

"That got into his head after he watched a _shotacon_ OVA titled "Boy Maid Kuro – kun"…" He muttered with some annoyance.

"Really… Hiro – kun is terrible, trying to tease you like that."

"I know. He needs someone to splash his face with cold water and get back to work." He sighed.

"Sure thing… And that would do for Yaito – san too."

"Really. Miss Heiress… I dunno why I feel some kind of _déjà vu_ when bringing up her name. My imagination, I guess."

"Guess that, yeah."

"Morning."

"Hey. Zero. What's up?"

"Huff. Apart from Forte's lame jokes?"

"Apart from that."

"No big deal. I dropped by the WWW Area to train on Program Advances and nothing's changed ever since that incident in St. Valentine's with those weird foreign Navis…"

Zero EXE, the former Zero Virus, walked into the square while sighing and sounding both fed up and tired.

"Anyway… I'm gonna drop by Obihiro's to see if he finished the debugging of that app Mejin was having trouble with… And ask him if he got to figure out something about "Zeta"… But I doubt it."

"No wonder. He was out of the town by the time the whole mess with "Zeta" happened."

"In the end… We didn't even figure out their gender, did we?" Roll seemed to recall.

"No. We tend to assume it's a man but it could be a woman too: it's just that we tend to be too narrow-minded in these things. And they could be a woman trying to pose as a man too."

"In short: we know nothing save their name. And that they know a bit about PKMN but that hardly says anything, either."

"It doesn't say anything. They did a damned good job at being as vague as possible and leaving us with nothing to cling to." Zero growled.

"Whoa. Calm down, Zero."

"My bad. It's just this built-up frustration… I'll vent it off by walking to Obihiro's place… See you."

"Bye."

"Take care."

"Oh well. Guess we should each other's paths already." Delta suggested to Roll.

"Sure. We just happened to be heading for the same sector." She shrugged and didn't seem to mind.

"Let's hope someone doesn't start rumors." He warned in a hushed tone of voice.

"Hmpf. If they do… Then let them come and show their hides if they've got any dignity…" She was unimpressed.

"That's it. Bye."

"Bye~…"

Delta headed SW while Roll turned right: Delta looked like he was thinking of something.

_I hope Hiro – kun doesn't overdo this time around either. He doesn't have any bad intention, that's for sure, yet… He can be a bit reckless from time to time. Or hot-blooded, too… In that he takes after Hikari – kun: no wonder Saito – kun finds his lil bro so hard to control from time to time yet that hot-blooded nature sometimes turned out to be helpful… Like when they pulled down the switch of the power plant to stop Elec Man from recharging energy…_

However, he didn't spot a single Mettool looking at him from some distance and apparently trailing him from time to time: the Mettool's eyes glowed with a bluish glow as if something was different with it.

"Oh well. Let's just tackle the errands and be done with it. Not like anything is gonna happen… is it?"

_I dunno why but I felt a shiver go down my spine… I'm over-reacting!_

22:22 PM (Japan Time)…

"… Yo. _Aniki_."

"So? How's it going like?"

"Heh, heh, heh. I'm only pending one more to set… Tomorrow's a good chance…"

"Just don't get cocky. Don't underestimate those guys. And by "those guys" I mean old Lezareno and company…"

"I know. But they're far more worried about finding that "Zeta" guy whoever the guy is, so…"

"Fine. But I'm gonna warn ya again, AC…"

"No need to, KT. I'm in charge. Of the situation."

"Sure, sure. Just remember how they lured me out using a 19th century trick, will you? Don't take anything for granted when it comes to those guys! Absolutely nothing…"

A figure was standing in the balcony of an apartment in the city and looking out at the setting night as they talked with someone through a cell-phone: the caller sounded confident and smug but the person on the other end of the line didn't sound amused at all: they sounded like they were tired of having to insist on that over and over again.

"Ya just relax and watch from your VIP seat!"

"Fine. But a warning is a warning. And since I don't trust you not to screw it up… When you carry out the big operation… Dispose of this phone beforehand. I'll use another method to contact you were everything to end up alright. If I don't get response then don't count me to get you outta the fire." The other person described.

"I know, I know. Well then. See ya!"

"Hmpf. Just don't screw it up."

"Don't worry~! Heh, heh, heh. This is gonna be FUN! Heh, heh, heh!"


	2. Chapter 2: Undisciplined

**Chapter 2: Undisciplined**

16:03 PM (Japan Time), Tuesday May the 31st…

"… Ooyama! Move those legs! They're there for something! Or else you're gonna be last one again!"

"Huff, huff! I'm dying!"

"Sure, sure. I've already heard that so many times in these 3 weeks I've been working here… Move it!"

"Gua~h!"

"Jeez. Dekao makes the replacement P. E. teacher get annoyed the whole time."

"Not like he lashes out at the rest of the class, though…"

"I'm gonna die~!"

"Sheesh. Move it! Or else you get to broom, mop and transport half of material to the main building!"

"UWA~H!"

"Fatman won't change, eh, Meiru – chan?"

"What were you expecting, Yaito – chan? After all this time… 3 years ever since the WWW began stirring up trouble… And he hasn't improved in the very least. Chisao – kun needs to make the guy fall down to Earth."

The 2 – A students were running along the edge of the soccer field as part of their P. E. class: Dekao was dramatizing and that only got the P. E. teacher annoyed.

The P. E. teacher was a man on his mid-30s with blonde messy hair, blue eye irises and no trace of beard or moustache.

He had reading glasses on.

He sported a long-sleeved gray vest, navy blue sports pants and white sneakers: he had a chronometer on his right hand too.

"When will the "Super Vitamin" come~?" Dekao cried as he struggled to breathe.

"Never. They're another Bubble Man scam. You got your money wasted in vanity. Again." Noa calmly replied.

"It's obvious." Tooru sighed.

"Alright! 2 minutes left!" The teacher called out.

"No more~!"

"Shut up." Meiru hissed at Dekao.

"YIKES!"

"1 minute 30 seconds! Come on!"

"I'm gonna collapse~!"

"I'm so going to make your fats collapse. With a spell!" Meiru threatened while looking pretty if not totally annoyed.

"UWA~H! SPARE ME~!"

"Settled, then. Ooyama! You get to cleanse the storage room in the main building too!" The teacher announced.

"Why me~?"

"You're loud. And you don't take the class seriously. Someone has to teach you that you can't get away with everything."

"Kami – sama~!"

"Someone shower this Fatman in icy water."

"20 seconds! There!"

"Huff, huff!"

"No matter how much you struggle by now, Ooyama, my mind won't change regarding the lesson you need to learn."

"No way~!"

"3, 2, 1! Time!"

The group finally came to a halt and they began to regain their breaths while the teacher pocketed the chronometer and rolled his eyes as he headed for the warehouse: the students began to head back to the changing rooms.

"Oi! Netto! Tell me there's a backdoor!" Dekao moaned.

"You're telling me you've never to look for one in the 2 years we've been studying here?" Netto sighed.

"Find it with your legs, Dekao – kun." Saito scolded.

"The God of Disgrace is upon me~!"

Tooru had enough so he picked an empty pet bottle, filled it with some faucet water, and then splashed Dekao's face with it: the water did seem to snap Dekao out of it.

"Let's get changed already or we'll be late for the next class. We don't want to get there late because of you, Ooyama – kun." Tooru scolded him while fuming.

The other guys nodded in agreement and began to change back after they'd had a quick shower: Dekao was sighing the whole time and the students ignored him as they exited the changing rooms and headed for the classrooms.

"What's next?" Netto asked Saito.

"Mr. Next." Hiro joked.

"Yeah, yeah. Sure, sure." Netto didn't find it funny.

"Well. We've got Natural Sciences. We better pay attention because they'll outline the subjects for the exam."

"Subject Man will date Subject Girl?" Hiro joked next.

"Of course not." Tooru fumed.

"What a lame joke." Noa complained.

16:37 PM (Japan Time)…

"… Mr. Denpa?"

"Ah. Chief Lezaro. What's the matter?"

"I received an email from Dr. Lartes…"

"Ah. What does he say?"

"He brings up a topic and with a good reason."

"Is that so?"

Two men were having a chat in an office room somewhere which had views of a city street.

One of them, sitting behind a desk, seemed to be close to his mid-20s.

He had short brown hair and his eyes' irises were brown: slight remains of a recent shaving could be spotted on his face too.

He wore a white shirt, a purplish tie, pants and brown shoes.

He also had reading glasses on.

"It regards that man… Keitai Denwa…"

"By all the…"

Chief Lezareno, the visitor, was on his forties and appealed to be slightly taller than the man named "Denpa".

His hair was blonde and neatly combed his face was clean shaven and he seemed to be calm enough.

He was dressed in a gray trench overcoat, a black sports suit and pants along with brown shoes.

He had sunglasses on, though.

"Indeed. We've all but forgotten about that man by now and we'd kept at it hadn't Dr. Lartes warned us. He feels like the guy's silence is a bad sign: he could be plotting something deadly, even."

"Almost one year…! Last time we tried to figure out something about the guy was in the last summer, when I'd gone overseas… Seeing what happened later on then it's no wonder we forgot…"

"Devil. Dr. Lartes is totally right on that. What does Mr. Sponsor suggest we do?"

"He hasn't brought up the topic. Mr. Sponsor seems to have been involved in some complicated investigation to find the origin of some drug smuggling in the Bermudas and Dr. Lartes wants to wait some days before bringing up the topic. We don't need Mr. Sponsor to get a stress attack and work without sleeping days on a row, right?"

"Of course, of course. We all agree on that, Chief."

"He's made some preliminary investigations but no – one seems to have noticed an unusual withdrawal or transfer of money in bank accounts: he tried looking in some Ameroupe states because he's got the hunch that Keitai fled there to get further away from us. He could've changed his look with ease so… There was no point in forwarding any photographs to customs officers or police."

"Indeed."

"The mysterious man that Colonel Botos spotted in Oosaka last year who seemed to have some involvement with Mr. Sponsor hasn't been sighted again either. He must've moved. But without knowing their name to begin with or any aliases… We didn't know where to start looking at: Colonel Botos spent much of the summer hunting for his trail but had to give it up in the end."

"Ah. Hence why he looked so worn out when I came back from overseas last summer…" Mr. Denpa rubbed his chin.

"So? What do we do? Do we focus on Keitai?"

"I'd rather do that. "Zeta" doesn't seem to want to bother us anymore so we can hunt for that sneaky fugitive… Maybe Colonel Talos could keep an eye out once a week to see if "Zeta" made any move or has made their presence known somewhere…"

"That's good. I'll go tell him right away."

"There's no trouble over at Akihara Town?"

"No. According to Agents Umi and Raion everyone is focused in the upcoming exams and Bubble Man keeps on selling scams there and there…" He checked some notes he carried in a clipboard and shrugged his shoulders.

"That's good. But we can't lower the guard. Maybe Keitai is hoping to stir up trouble there if we lower the guard too much and that's why he's waited so long."

"We can't ignore the possibility. It'd be a challenge to us: that man is too dangerous to leave them be."

"Indeed. Well then. I'll be excusing myself. I've got to set the machinery on: the sooner the better."

"Of course, Chief. I shall forward this to Mr. Admin and wait for his opinion: he shall order us what resources to allocate in this investigation or, rather, this manhunt."

"True."

Chief Lezareno stepped out into a corridor and sighed as he lowered his right arm and brought the right hand to his forehead as if being tired or nervous.

"How could we forget? Then again… Not like last autumn and winter were quiet, either… And more recently… The incident with "Zeta"… We're not perfect. I know that. But, nevertheless… One can't help but feel guilty at overlooking the topic…" He muttered.

He drew a Samsung GT-6500 smart-phone and quickly dialed a number as he waited for the elevator to come: the floor panel showed that this was the 10th floor of the building.

"Colonel Talos? It's time to start the operation."

"Excellent, _Comrade_. Let us begin. We cannot lower the guard."

17:27 PM (Japan Time)…

"… Ah! Senior! I'm lucky."

"What's the matter, _sensei_?"

"I need a hand with transporting a couple crates from the chemistry lab to the storage room. Ooyama is sweeping the warehouse and I was looking for someone else who could lend me a hand. It's just 10 minutes. Could you help me out?"

"Roger. 10 minutes won't make any difference. I'll call my brother and tell him to go on ahead."

"Sorry for the bother, really. But since the new replacement stools have come then the old ones will be stored in the basement until we find a moment to bring them to the junkman's."

"No problem, sir… Let's see… What's App… "I'm going to help the P. E. teacher with a crate. 10 minutes. Go on ahead. And tell the misters as well…"… that's it. Let's go."

"Roger. This way."

Saito had come out of the restroom in his classroom's floor when the P. E. teacher walked down the corridor from the left and stopped: he looked relieved to have found him and asked him for a helping hand so Saito drew his PET (colored green and while) and sent a message to Netto before following the teacher.

"Hmmm? Wait a min." He suddenly seemed to smell something and called out for Saito to wait.

"Roger, sir."

The teacher spotted a badly closed door on the right side of the corridor: some hushed voices could be heard inside.

"Oh come on." He grumbled.

He pulled it open in a violent manner and exposed two 4th year students who'd been smoking cigarettes.

"What the hell are you doing, kids?"

"YIKES!"

"Ya wanna smoke so badly go outside!"

Both ran out and the teacher opened one of the corridor's sliding windows to ventilate it: he rolled his eyes and Saito didn't seem surprised at what had happened.

"They gotta believe it's funnier to do it inside and in secret, huh? Those overseas college soap operas… Bad influence, really… Let's just get to the Chemistry Lab. It's always key-locked so there's no danger of those idiots igniting something by accident."

Saito and he resumed walking and climbed the main stairs to the 3rd floor to then turn left and down a corridor: they reached a door labeled "CHEM LAB" and he took out the keys.

"Turns out the Chemistry teacher doesn't stay past lunch time and charged me with this… Could've asked another teacher to lend him a hand, really… That guy…" He grumbled.

He unlocked the door: the lab had three desks with two rows of 5 stools each: there were 4 cupboards taking up the left wall's length and each of them was locked with a padlock: the right wall had a work space with granite surface and two sinks with their faucets: the south wall had two sliding windows which looked out into the west side of the school's perimeter.

"There: those are the boxes!"

He signaled two wooden boxes piled one atop the other and having the label "STOLEN STOOLS" on them: both frowned upon seeing it and the teacher rushed over there.

"What the… Someone wrote the original label over with a red crayon: some student of the morning class…?"

"Hmmm… I think that, on Tuesdays, the 3rd year students come here for their 2-hour class…" Saito frowned and tried to recall.

"Sheesh. What's with the discipline?"

"It's cracking away, I'm afraid, sir."

"Sure thing. Things were far more serious 20 years ago. I agree that corporal punishment is illegal and abolished but one should be more disciplined and remember that what they do here is to build the foundations to their future, not to play."

"Indeed, sir."

"Anyway. My bad. I tend to babble in a rush and involve others in my complaints. Let's just tackle these: I'll pick the first box and you then pick the second one. Wait a couple minutes to put some distance between the both of us." The teacher instructed.

"Roger, sir."

The teacher's iPhone buzzed and he drew it out.

"What? The math teacher? What does he want? Wait a minute. I'm going to reply to this call. Could you pick the top box and place it on the ground in the meanwhile?"

"Understood."

Saito left his backpack atop a stool and picked one crate to lower it as the teacher rushed out and began to talk in a lowered tone of voice with the Math teacher: Saito calmly carried the box and placed it on the ground a few centimeters to the left of the main one: he shrugged and looked out through the window to see how the students were walking away and heading to their homes.

"Oh well. I'll soon be done with this. But I'll agree in that discipline is being ignored nowadays. Maybe I should remind Netto – kun about its importance one of these days too." He calmly muttered.

He accidentally hit a plastic pot with a loose cap and which was placed to his right, on the window shelf, with his elbow: it hit the ground and Saito suddenly felt some dizziness and nausea hitting him all of a sudden: before he could react he fainted and hit the floor…

17:48 PM (Japan Time)…

"… Oi! Senior! Wake up! Are you alright?"

"U-unh… Huh…? What…?"

"Calm down. Don't rush it."

"W-what happened, sir?"

"Oh. You just happened to drop a bottle with chloroform which is part of the lab's materials…"

"Ah! Hence why…"

"I think one of those 3rd year students set it up in purpose like that taking profit of the teacher's distraction."

"Sheesh. They go too far, even."

Saito slowly woke up when he heard the P. E. teacher calling out to him: he got into his fours and then slowly rose to his full height while leaning on the shelf: the window was open to ventilate the lab and the bottle had already been sealed and placed inside of a plastic container: Saito groaned while the teacher looked slightly annoyed.

"Don't bother with the crate. I'll have Ooyama carry it. You just get to your home and see you around."

"Roger, sir."

Saito walked off the lab after picking his backpack and while pressing his right hand against his forehead as if to shake away the dizziness and nausea of the chloroform.

_Sheesh. Hard to believe, huh? No, I don't mean the accident. That can happen to everyone. But I didn't think that my brain would react like a normal brain when you inhale chloroform. Guess Vadous – san wanted to make it as realistic as possible to allow me to feel like a full-fledged human and not like some cyborg… Oh well._

DAN – DIN – DEN – DON – DUN!

_What's with this melody? Mail? Sheesh. I suspect Netto – kun switched it just to troll me. I'll have to pull his ears. And it's just the YouTube upload notification, anyway. _

"Yo! Senior. Did ya dream of fleeing Zekroms and Reshirams and Kyurems tonight?" Forte suddenly showed up in the PET.

"Sheesh. Forte. The last thing I need now is your trolling. Why don't you go beat some Heel Navis overseas? Or challenge that Ms. Millionaire and her Navi, Snake Man."

"Who'll be eternally overshadowed by Solid Snake?" He laughed at his own joke.

"How funny. Tell that to Hiro, will ya? He's the MGS fan. Or Zarashe – kun in Kyoto, too."

"And our beloved, beloved precious."

"Lord of the Rings next? Sheesh. Go play some game. Try to beat Metroid Zero Mission in Hard Mode and in less than 6 hours. That a challenge so get your cloak on the move, Mr. Desperado."

"Desperado, eh? Guess that I look like one. Now we need the Marshal to come arrest me next. Heh, heh, heh! Guess that'd be Blues – sama and his ronin _katana_."

"What did you say?" Blues' annoyed voice asked close by.

"Whoa. What timing, really." Forte gasped.

"Don't mind the guy, Blues." Ijuuin Enzan commanded on the background with a sigh.

"Yo! Ijuuin. Did someone sneak into your office to get a sign?"

"Why should anyone, anyway?"

"You never know. It's a secret to everybody!"

"Huff. I fail to see the point. If there's any to begin with."

"Ask Blues' lovely twin bro."

"HMPF!"

"Heh. Dropped off the road into another one 3 levels below: guess he doesn't want to have anything to do with our good old fellow Red Sword, then…" He chuckled.

Saito ignored that and quickly made his way home: he unlocked the door with his key and stepped in.

"I'm home~!"

"Hey! Niisan. Guess what?" Netto called out from the upper floor and sounded up to something.

"Tell me when I get up there." Saito settled.

He took out the shoes, put them on the shoes' cupboard and then put on a couple of slippers: he climbed up into their bedroom and left his backpack atop his bed, right to Netto's: Netto was sitting on his bed and looking at the display of his Link PET which showed Ganondorf dancing to the rhythm of some disco music.

"Sheesh. Some Ganondorf parody? What about the homework, huh? We gotta finish it soon and focus on the upcoming exams!" Saito scolded with some annoyance.

"…club in which ya go all out with your "someone" and…" Forte was whispering to Enzan in the meanwhile.

"Oh come on! That Sigaano guy was the one saying that to catch me with the guard down to begin with… Just leave me alone and go rip sprites outta some game to face them!" Enzan exasperatedly told him.

"Sure, VP – sama~… Well then! See ya round the roundabout!"

"Sheesh."

"So! Senior. Back to our topic… Do ya think Ijuuin wants to have an affair with Junior?"

"Enzan? The guy's too cold and distant for that. He'd just use me and throw me like a broken suit."

"Oho. So ya got to your home, eh? Good, good. And from the tone of it I guess it's already happened and I'm slow on catching up. Maybe I need to install Catch Them All App by BM Workshops?"

"That's lame. Even for me." Netto grumbled.

"Oh the random blowing and running moods!"

"Patent it for some RPG game already."

"Delighted, my precious! Jackson's busy filming there in New Zealand and I can't wait to see the end result… Let's see if good old Gollum will look younger or not although 60 years surely don't make much of a difference for the guy. We want fish, my precious!"

"Yeah, yeah. Just go already."

"And next time I'll install a better firewall."

"Heh, heh, heh. OK, then… Let's go, Gospel Jr."

"Grawl."

"What? Ah! Ya wanna eat some Spark Bees? Let's go: and hope their honey is as delicious as the real world one's."

There was a hardly muffled giggle as Forte (who'd actually left the PET a while ago and was just using a voice-only band) disconnected: both sighed in relief.

"Finally. Some peace." Saito sighed in relief.

"Wouldn't you know? Dekao tried to sneak away but the P. E. teacher caught the guy and had him go back to work."

"You needn't tell me. I saw a couple of 4th year guys smoking inside of the cleansing equipment storage cupboard."

"Really… What's with the school? It's gone mad?"

"No. People have lost all sense of discipline, sadly enough."

"Discipline, huh? Sounds like it, yeah. Papa tends to bring it up too."

"Speaking of which… How many days has he been engrossed over at the Science Labs this time around?"

"I think that… 11 days?" Netto frowned.

"11, huh. I wouldn't be surprised if they become 21."

"We could drop by and do an express visit on the weekend before resuming studying, no?"

"That's not a bad idea, either."

"Alright. Let's get to work."

"Sure. The sooner the better."

Both opened their backpacks and took out their materials which they placed on their sides of the desk: they immediately focused on working on them and worked on them for a while.

"I'm home~!" Haruka called out from the ground floor.

"Welcome back." Both calmly called back.

"Oh. You're studying? Alright. I'll try not to be too noisy. I went to see Yuuichirou – san. He'll be coming on Friday!"

"Whoa." Both whistled in surprise.

"Tee, heh, heh. Yuuichirou – san can get nostalgic, too."

"As expected of Mama… Right?" Netto whispered.

"As expected of Mama, alright." Saito confirmed.

"Oh well! I'll tune into my favorite series."

"Let's get this finished. We're three quarters done, anyway."

"Sure. I feel like we'll beat the exams."

"It's good to be optimistic. But we mustn't get confident." Saito nodded in agreement.

"Alright! Let's go for it!"

21:58 PM (Japan Time)…

"… See? All's set, my buddy! Piece of a cake!"

"For the time being. For now."

"What's with that skepticism?"

"One thing you learn once you spend so many years into the deal is to be skeptical when things go too well. One should always look ahead to some trouble. A lesson I learnt last summer…"

"But that's ya and we're talking about me, right?"

"Hmpf. Yeah. Oh well. If it goes well, then it'll be a good blow to their morale. If not… Meh. They'll regret underestimating and forgetting about me altogether."

The unidentified conspirer was back at talking with their accomplice or contact over the phone: the conspirer sounded confident yet the contact was cold, skeptical and sounded hostile as well.

"Che. So you mean that you don't give a crap for my idea?"

"Oh no. Your idea is good. It's to be expected from you. But I'm being careful. You've only finished Phase 1. We're pending to see if the remaining 3 "Incidents" happen as you predict they'll happen. I won't be convinced until I see the end result."

"Heh! And once we're done with the heating up… There'll be the main dish! If I can't get the gold I'll have enough with the silver. But I'm confident that they won't see it coming."

"That depends. There could be many factors outside your control which could screw up the whole deal. I'm off."

"Hmpf! Fine. Go off and just admit that you don't have enough ambition unlike me… I'll make those "Committee" guys FEAR me!"

"Were it so easy. Were it so easy…"

The conspirer laughed while the contact remained silent…


	3. Chapter 3: Forbidden fruit

**Chapter 3: Forbidden fruit**

17:24 PM (Japan Time), Wednesday June the 1st…

"… Hello? Oh. Tooru – kun."

"Ah. Noa – kun. I was helping cleanse the warehouse."

"Can I give you a helping hand?"

"Thank you."

"Dekao – kun did look defeated today, eh?"

"Sure did. Guess he won't be playing victim anymore if the same punishment is in store for him."

"By the way… Don't you feel different today?"

"Well…"

Noa stepped into the P. E. warehouse and met with Tooru who was sweeping the floor with a broom: they began to chat and Noa suddenly asked a question: Tooru trailed off and looked somewhat nervous, for once.

"Yeah. Dunno why, but… I feel different… I can't properly describe it: it's like some instinct had woken up on me."

"How curious. I've got that same hunch too… I dunno why I felt compelled to come here…"

"Yeah… Maybe… We both have the same desire?"

"Guess that. Wait a min."

Noa opened the door a bit and looked out: there wasn't anyone in sight and most of the voices and noise was outside of the perimeter: he closed the door and Tooru took out the keys to lock the door from the inside: both then nodded to each other.

"You brought it along?" Tooru asked in a hushed tone of voice.

"I did. Every day that isn't P. E. class…" Noa admitted.

"Huh? Wait a min… This box…?"

"What's up?"

Tooru spotted a small cubical cardboard box the flaps of which were badly closed: he opened it and gasped so Noa peeked over his right shoulder and gasped too: there were several large latex vibrators, clothes pegs, egg – shaped vibrators, anal beads, ball-gags, black wool blindfolds, urethra beads and bell-shaped vibrators.

"What's with this box? It's TOO convenient." Noa looked suspicious and mistrusting.

"Maybe it's the 4th year students who meet in secret here: maybe they come on the weekend or at night and use a copied key to get inside and then lock it from the inside. And they might play here too." Tooru suggested to him.

"Ah. If it's just that… If we then cleanse them then they shouldn't have any complains."

"Sure. So? Do we dare?"

"Yeah. No – one will be using the warehouse today by now. And as long as we are back at home before 7 PM then there should be no problem. Can we go all out?" Noa grinned.

"Heh. Sure. I wanted something different, for once. The _dominatrix_ games with Sakurai – san… They are refreshing, yeah. But I miss some _yaoi_, for once. And since you're used to doing it with Rafael…"

"Yeah. Guess that. Alright. Let's gear each other and take turns: do you want to go first?"

"Yeah. I'd be grateful if I could."

"Then it's settled."

"Good. It's time for some fun."

"And since we'll only do it once… It won't harm. We've still got plenty of time to work up the exams."

Noa unbuttoned his upper shirt and took it out while pulling his lower shirt: he happened to be wearing a pair of leather bands which travelled across the sides of his body and originated from a leather collar around his neck: Tooru was doing the same and he had the same bands on him as well.

"It makes me feel hot." Noa giggled.

"Same reason… When I go to the toilet at break time and I can drill myself then I feel all tension leaving me…"

They finished taking out their clothes and then they both clipped a couple of clothes pegs to their nipples while setting up a couple of egg vibrators over and below them.

"Let's go on."

"Sure. This is but the gearing up." Tooru grinned.

They both then picked the urethra beads and slid them inside of their penises: they gasped from the feeling and seemed to feel ecstatic already: their next item was the bell-shaped vibrator which covered their penises' heads.

"And now the rear…"

"The rearguard…"

"Not bad." Noa giggled.

"Thanks."

"Times have sure changed, eh? I'm sure that 20 years ago no – one would've thought of that. But the boom of _yaoi_ and other genres has changed perceptions. We should be glad we live in a country where it's still legal and it's not pursued. I don't see why these collectives are object of so much prejudice… I guess a lot of people get stuck with the idea that sex can only be between men and women." Noa exposed.

"Yeah. Oh well. Let's set the gloomy talk apart and go on."

"True, true."

Noa stuffed the vibrator into his ass and Tooru did the same but he inserted the anal beads as well: he turned around and placed his wrists parallel to each other: Noa placed a couple of handcuffs there and turned around next after placing another couple on Tooru's hands: he let him cuff him as well.

"Should we add the ball-gags and the blindfolds?"

"Yeah. It'll be more exciting!"

"Then I'm in. Let's go."

"Sure."

Tooru got down on his knees: Noa picked the two ball-gags he'd left atop a shelf and dropped one on Tooru's hands: he then turned around and used his fingers to place it on Tooru's mouth and then close the band: Tooru got up and Noa got on his knees as Tooru did the same to him: Tooru placed the blindfold on him so Noa did the same orientating himself via touch.

_Heh, heh, heh. This feels cool… I can't wait to check out how it feels to have Tooru – kun's penis inside of me!_

_Noa – kun… Let's have fun!_

Noa faced the west wall and Tooru began to pump into his ass once they'd both turned on their vibrators: Noa inwardly moaned and felt how his penis was dancing.

_Ah! It feels good! Too good to be true! We're gonna have a lot of fun together, Tooru – kun! This afternoon just got interesting! I feel the passion climbing up… I want more!_

_Whoa. Noa – kun feels good…! Better than I thought…! I'm not used to penetrating so… But we'd already had sex before, a while before the whole "Z – Militia" affair… I want to have fun with him… I never get enough fun, really! I deserve it!_

_Tooru – kun! Faster! Pump faster into me! I want to feel your penis inside of me…! And then…! I want to bring pleasure to you!_

Tooru pumped for a little while more before he stopped and pulled out while taking a step back: he unplugged the anal beads and stuffed them into Noa as he turned around and Noa began to have sex with him next: Noa's pacing seemed to be faster even.

_Ah! This feeling! I missed it! Since I always play "slave" in S&M and Raf is the one having sex with me… I missed this feeling! I'm going to pump for a while and then we'll take out the ball-gags to kiss each other. We'll go off one after the other… It'll be refreshing!_

_Ah! Noa – kun! You feel so good…! Bully me more! I want to be bullied today: we're both such masochists, really! I like being bullied: it makes me feel completed!_

_I think you want me to pump more into you, eh, Tooru – kun? I'll grant you your wish! Heh, heh, heh! _

_More! More! Until I faint! Heh, heh, heh!_

Noa kept on pumping for another minute or two and then stopped, panting: both of them were drooling by now and they turned around to begin to rub their penises against each other as a teaser before they took out each one's ball-gag.

"Heh, heh, heh… Intense, isn't it?" Noa giggled.

"Sure… I wanna kiss you…! I want to be naughty…!"

"Same over here…! Let's kiss! My boyfriend!"

"Yeah! We're now boyfriends! Naughty _yaoi_ boyfriends!"

They began a passionate kiss: Noa turned around and pulled out Tooru's urethra beads and vibrator: he released and stained Noa's chest but he remained conscious to pull out Noa's own beads and vibrators: Noa moaned and released as well: both then panted and collapsed on the floor with Noa atop Tooru.

"Heh… I wanna nap… With you at my side…"

"Same here… Huh… Sleepy…"

17:58 PM (Japan Time)…

"… Huh…? My head's spinning… What happened? Why is all black and why do I feel something warm close by…?"

"Uh-unh…? I was cleansing the warehouse…?"

"Huh? T-Tooru – kun?"

"Huh! N-Noa kun!"

"What happened?"

Both guys began to slowly wake up and they seemed to be disoriented about what had happened: they stood up and helped each other took out the blindfolds and the cuffs: they then turned off the vibrators and looked at how they were stained with a lot of white stuff.

"I suddenly feel ashamed." Tooru muttered.

"Yeah. My self-control vanished… We should've done this at my home, not here…"

"Say…"

"What's up?" Noa frowned.

"Don't you have a bad hunch? Like something bad is gonna happen or is going on right now?" Tooru asked with angst.

"Now that you mention it…"

"Let's get dressed and rush!"

"Rush? Where to?" Noa frowned.

"I've got a hunch that something might've happened to Hiro – kun and Drake – kun! Let's hurry it up!"

"R-roger!"

Both silently dressed up and tossed the stuff in the box without bothering to close it again: Tooru unlocked the door and locked it again on their way out as they rushed away.

"Huff, huff… I hope we make it on time!" Tooru muttered.

"And what if nothing's happened at all?" Noa asked.

"Well! At least I'll prove I worry about them!"

"Huh. You've got a point."

They rushed down a street and Tooru crashed with one of two pedestrians who were walking down another in the corner of them.

"Uwah!"

"Whoa!"

"S-sorry."

"… Hikawa – kun? That you?"

"Huh? Ah! Zarashe – kun! What a surprise! Why are you here?"

"My school happened to end one hour earlier since a teacher was ill and there wasn't a replacement one… What's with the rush?"

"W-well."

"Is that… Beta X?"

"Chut! Call me "Bernard"… I don't want to raise attention!"

Zarashe, the newcomer, was about Tooru's and Noa's ages and he seemed to be about their height too.

He had black messy hair and green eye irises.

"Whoa. So Saito – kun gave you the new-gen "Copy Roid" too?"

"Yeah. Please lower the voice."

Beta X was sporting normal clothes so as to not to call the attention but they were a middle school uniform anyway: he'd put on sunglasses over his eyes and he had a green cap which partly hid his blonde hair: he could be a few inches taller than Zarashe.

"What's with the rush, anyway?"

"We fear that Hiro – kun and Drake – kun are in danger. Don't ask me why: I've just got that hunch."

"A-alright." He was surprised.

The group of 4 rushed until they reached Hiro's house, a small house about the size of the others and some blocks away from the Hikari house, the roof of which could be spotted some hundreds of meters SW from there.

"Here's the place. I'll ring the bell." Tooru announced.

"Alright."

"… The windows are closed… Maybe they've got the AC on…" Zarashe muttered as he glanced at the balcony.

"I don't hear it." Beta X whispered.

DING DONG DING DONG

"… No reply?" Tooru frowned.

"Maybe they've got music on?" Noa offered.

"Could be." Beta X shrugged.

"… Huh? The door isn't properly locked! How careless." Noa suddenly spotted.

"… Were that to be the case…" Tooru grimly muttered.

"Oi, oi. You're not gonna tell me you believe a burglar got in and robbed them, right? Drake is Delta, ya know. He's using a Copy Roid. He could beat any burglar with ease." Zarashe whispered.

"But what if they took Hiro – kun hostage? And it's not like Drake – kun can blow his cover just like that." Tooru whispered back.

"You've got a point." Zarashe muttered.

"Let's go in. It may have been a prank by Hiro – kun, anyway."

"Could be, yeah." Noa agreed on it.

The four of them got inside and closed the door: the house was unusually silent: the ground floor seemed deserted and Noa checked the shoes cupboard: there were two pairs of sneakers there.

"They're both home. Unless they have a spare set of sneakers, that is, and they went out." Tooru deduced.

"They're not replying to the PET. It's either switched off or it's run out of battery." Beta X announced as he interacted with Zarashe's PET (colored white and golden).

"It could be a prank or to prevent Forte from dropping by with his lame jokes, too." Zarashe offered.

"We can't discard anything at this stage."

"Let's first knock on their door, shall we?" Noa suggested.

"Of course."

The group climbed up to the first floor and Tooru knocked on the door: there was no reply.

"Huh… Hello? Hiro – kun? Drake – kun? Are you there? Hello? Can we come in?" Tooru asked.

There was no reply: he tried to open the door but it was locked from the inside from the looks of it: Beta X suddenly gasped and seemed to notice something.

"Chut. I heard some buzz-like sounds… Engines… Small engines… A computer's humming… That's not surprising but those buzz-like sounds are picking me… I feel like I've heard them somewhere else." He whispered.

"Ah! Of course. You can hear things normal hearing can't hear."

"Some slight wood creaking, too…"

"We only need X – Ray by now." Zarashe tried to pull a joke.

"Who knows?" Beta X wasn't impressed.

"Engines…? Wood creaking…?" Tooru wondered.

"I've got a bad vibe about this, really." Noa admitted.

"What do we do?" Zarashe asked.

"We'll later apologize if we're doing the wrong thing but… I don't think this is normal. Even if they were… hum… Well. Even if they were having sex right now, I think that you'd heard moaning and such, right? And I'm sure Hiro – kun would reply." Tooru exposed.

"Guess that. The engine sounds… One of them feels like a rotor."

"Spinning vibrators, then…? Hum… Let's go!"

Tooru rammed into the door with the right shoulder all of a sudden and got bounced back: Noa and Zarashe joined him and they felt how the lock was about to yield.

"If needed I'll pay the new lock. But I've got the hunch that we gotta do this here and now." Tooru told them.

"I've got that hunch too!" Noa admitted.

"One, two… THREE!"

SLAM! BLAM!

"By all the…!"

"What in the… This isn't normal! At all!"

The door finally yielded and the group ran in: they gasped when they saw that both Hiro and Delta (who had black neatly combed hair) were set in S&M gear like Tooru and Noa had did and they were strapped to a wooden horse with a metallic upper edge: two spinning vibrators were inserted into their rears and a short metallic chain connected their collars: they were scratching each one's ball-gag against the other and they didn't seem like they were enjoying it given their attempts to escape.

"Let's take out the plugs!"

Noa and Tooru rushed over and did so: both released and fainted…

18:49 PM (Japan Time)…

"… This is ODD."

"Not "odd", Mr. Denpa, sir… It's WEIRD, sir!"

"Calm down, Mr. Hikawa. I know it's been a shock."

"Their explanations were ambiguous at the best. But it's obvious that someone from the outside is involved, sir."

"Hum… Someone from the outside… That mouse…?"

The 4 rescuers were talking with Mr. Denpa inside of Hiro's house living room: he looked concerned and worried about what the 4 of them were telling him.

"Do you have a suspect, sir?" Zarashe asked.

"Yeah. Keitai Denwa… A former double-agent… He spied within us for some years, faked his death and emerged again last summer only to vanish… I got a report which suggested to me to keep an eye out for the guy… He's dangerous. He knows too much. He happened to hack into Mr. Sponsor's MacBook last summer, too." He admitted.

"So he knows about the "Copy Roids"…"

"Yeah. But he never used a Navi. And I don't think he will. He's old-school: he's not that good at computers."

"So he does everything physically? He doesn't rely on accomplices?" Tooru asked next.

"Hmmm… He had one last summer but I think that they only got along because the accomplice was more skilled at computing and could gather info… But he might've found a new one, true. We can discard nothing at this stage."

"Mr. Denpa, sir?"

"Agent Umi?"

"Yes, sir. We found something, sir."

"What is it?"

A man on his 40s with short black hair came down from the upper floor and walked into the living room.

He wore a black suit, a blue tie, pants and brown shoes.

He sported sunglasses.

"A name… Beneath the horse… A piece of paper… Here…"

He handed Mr. Denpa a plastic bag with a piece of paper which had the words "ALIVE CELL" written into it using a computer font: the color of choice was red over a black background.

"Alive Cell?" He wondered.

"It reminds me of Dead Cell… You know, sir, from MGS2…"

"Ah! Of course. And there was FOXALIVE too… Maybe it's supposed to be an irony made on the original meaning of the "Dead Cell" name: to kill off terrorist cells…"

"It could be the culprit's name." Beta X suggested.

"Could be, yeah. Reeks of a challenge to us… But if we don't know where to start from… What did they say?"

"Hiro – kun got back home. He started feeling cocky and all and wanted to, well, to pull a prank on Drake – kun. But he suddenly started feeling dizzy and fainted and Drake – kun admitted that he also did so. When they woke up they were on that situation."

"They heard nothing?"

"Nothing. It'd seem the culprit simply set them up and somehow got out while locking the door from the inside."

"What kind of lock is it?" Mr. Denpa asked.

"A security chain, sir." Agent Umi specified.

"Hum. Ask them if they remember how many slabs it has."

"Roger."

"You suspect something?"

"A trick I've spotted twice or thrice… A very elemental one but which tends to be ignored…" He admitted.

"… Mr. Drake says he's sure it's 3 slabs long. But checking it again I found it has 4 instead."

"I see. They added an extra slab and, this way, they can place it on the lock from the outside with ease. They're crafty." Mr. Denpa wasn't surprised by the reply.

"What do we tell the others?"

"Hmmm… Well. Tell them the truth. But we don't need mass panic: filter it to a selected few. If you don't feel like you can then you can pretend nothing happened. There are no witnesses who saw anything weird and it's not like we came with the sirens and all. Only I and Agent Umi came over so…" He exposed a course of action.

"Alright. We'll talk it over."

"They say the AC was working before they fainted."

"I see. The culprit surely used the AC to insert chloroform into the room and knock them out… Maybe we need to talk with Mr. Sponsor so that he can fix the Copy Roids' sensors and avoid them from shutting down when they detect chloroform… He must've overseen that."

"Surely." Beta X shrugged.

"I'll contact him personally. Maybe we need to ask for a helping hand to search the Reverse Internet. There could be some rumors or traces of our culprit there."

"Alright. We're going back to Kyoto and we'll try to search for info as well from there."

"Send greetings to Hikari – kun. But I better get on the move if I want to catch the train and get to Uncle's home by dinner time."

"Alright. Bye."

"See you."

Zarashe and Beta X came out: Hiro and Drake (Hiro in his school uniform, Drake wearing a white T-shirt, shorts and socks) came down while looking sleepy or exhausted: Tooru and Noa yielded the sofa and they sat down there.

"Are you alright?" Tooru asked.

"Somehow… I'm not gonna make jokes about that anymore. Lesson learnt… Thought I was gonna go mad there…" Hiro groaned.

"We were lucky, really… But that fit you had there, Hiro – kun, was unlike you… Suddenly saying I sucked and all…"

"Did I?" He frowned.

"Weird. I feel like I said something odd a while ago too…"

"I've got that feeling too…"

"That can't be a coincidence." Mr. Denpa sentenced.

"Then what? Some kind of hypnosis radio signal?"

"Could be. It's not crazy. With today's tech… Our culprit could've gotten that somewhere." He admitted.

"The question is… Is this Keitai Denwa's work? Or is it someone else who is totally unrelated?" Tooru summarized.

"That's where we're stuck. I'm afraid we'll have to wait and see if we can determine where that damned thing came from and how they got it inside of the house to begin with… Maybe they posed as a transporter and made it look like it was new furniture to be delivered…"

"It's a highly possible scenario… We're dealing with a smart villain."

"Too smart for my taste, even!" He grumbled.

The group sighed in defeat and a gloomy mood hung around them…

23:23 PM (Japan Time)…

"… I told ya. I'm a GENIUS."

"Insofar."

"What was that? Oh man!"

"I'm being cautious. That of tomorrow might fail. There might be some unforeseen factor. And, also… That of the day after tomorrow… That's the critical part."

"I know, I know."

"Why don't you cancel it? If you stop at tomorrow then the chances of you being discovered will lower considerably."

"Man. That'd be missing a chance to shine!"

"Fine. I only contacted you because you happened to have been in the same org I was. That's all. I never had any real interest in whatever you do… Except for humiliating the "Committee" guys… Did you get me, Alive Cell?"

"I know, Keitai, I know."

The conspirer, Alive Cell, was discussing with the man known as Keitai Denwa over the phone like the other days: Keitai sounded skeptical and mistrusting while Alive was getting cocky again.

"Fine. But remember. You're to dispose of this phone before going out and there'll be no further contact unless I find a way to approach you: I'll have to use a proxy or a middle man. No way I'm stepping into Japan again: get me, Alive?" Keitai instructed.

"Ya needn't tell me everything 100 times!"

"Fine. But he who warns a traitor is not."

"Heh, heh, heh… My plot's perfect and unbeatable! Just you wait, Committee! I'll make ya sink in shame and disgrace~!"

Alive laughed while Keitai, as usual, remained quiet…


	4. Chapter 4: Stretching reach

**Chapter 4: Stretching reach**

17:31 PM (Japan Time), Thursday June the 2nd…

"… Well, well, well. Let devil bite me."

"What?"

"It's the Soldier In Green."

"How lame."

"Even for me, too."

"And the Hair In Blue too."

"Sheesh."

"Did the summer heat melt you guys' ice?"

"None of your business."

"To begin with. I'm Search Man."

"And I'm Laika."

"I knew that, Mr. General Ivan."

"Sheesh. It's as bad as Ijuuin told me."

"So it'd seem, Laika – sama."

"It doesn't seem, Search Man. It _IS_."

"I apologize, sir. I wasn't intending to loophole the matter, sir."

"Just move it."

Forte happened to stumble into Search Man in a spot of the Reverse Internet and began to joke: Search Man didn't even flinch while Laika looked somewhat annoyed.

"Beware of Pacus Manus."

"Pac Man? Oh come on. Not like that Sigaano guy will reuse it: he's gone overseas, hasn't the guy?"

"Ya never know. He might drop by Christmas night."

"Sheesh. Just move it, Search Man, and try to figure out if anything resembling the device we're looking for has been sold in one auction or another. Use your stealth camouflage and listen on." Laika ordered to Search Man.

"Acknowledged."

"Beware! The grudge of Mr. Bean floats around!"

"Let's leave NOW."

Search Man merely turned invisible and Laika shut down his screen in an abrupt manner: Forte sighed and shrugged as he walked down a road and whistled a tune.

"Mwah, hah, hah. Yo. Forte. Been a while."

"Well, well, well. Let devil bite me. Sigma's here."

A Navi climbed up a ramp on the left side and joined Forte in the road: Forte grinned and looked amused to meet the guy.

"Mwah, hah, hah. Sigma's here to smash them and crash them!"

"Smash & Crash!"

Sigma was about two meters tall and was colored jet black: a red spheroid could be seen set on his chest area and it seemed to be missing the armor over its mass.

His face had two red eyes and one shone brighter than the other: two horns, one of which was almost erased, were set on both sides of his head and added a "demonic" look to him.

Green data flows moved around his body and he held a massive black and green sword in his right hand which he was currently aiming at the floor of the kart in lazy manner.

"Did your lil bro come along?"

"Brad Shad? Yeah. He's gotta be looking for Hugo Brad."

"I heard that, Sigma!"

"Brad Shad! Your new perfume would help you win the heart of Mistress Roll, I'd daresay!"

"Sheesh. I'm Blood Shadow! "Brad Shad" is what Bubble Man misheard: the guy's half-deaf to begin with!"

Blood Shadow, the newcomer, used red as his main color of choice.

He sported black shades and a flock of messy reddish hair came out from behind the helmet given how it only covered the face and the front of the head: his ear-pads had two purple "V" letters drawn inside of them.

His armor had the purple letters "BS" engraved on the chest area while his legs were colored black and had two red stripes running down the legs' sides in a parallel manner.

His right forearm was covered by a device colored red coupled with a piece of it which was colored transparent red: a small indentation near the wrist had the same "BS" initials engraved there: and, where the hand would be, a large double-barreled shotgun emerged instead.

He seemed to be around Forte's height, more or less, and about Rock Man's age given the shape of his face.

"Well! See. Mr. Denpa contacted us: we're trying to find any rumors regarding someone named "Alive Cell"… Some kind of smart-lass wannabe, I take it…" Sigma let out.

"But insofar we found nothing. Maybe they haven't publically used this name ever and they just came up with it." Blood Shadow admitted.

"Hmmm… Why don't we try to lure them out? Let's spread a rumor: Alive Cell is the secretive brother-in-law of Justin Bieber!

"Hmmm…" Blood Shadow seemed to be thinking about it.

"Well. It could work. The gossip press would love to race to find the guy and see who gets to publish an article about the guy firstly."

"We should consult it with Dr. Lartes firstly."

"What happened to our precious Sith Lord?"

"Sheesh. Don't call Boss like that. He doesn't stand it."

"So why doesn't he use his civilian name instead?"

"Guess he got stuck with his given name. Not like you'd change your name from Forte to, say, Sorte, right?"

"Hum. Guess that." He muttered.

"There you are~! Mega Spawn Pawn Bomb!"

"HUH?"

Someone suddenly threw an old-fashioned metallic spherical bomb with a fuse which was about to be consumed: before they could react it exploded and several "Mettool SP" Viruses showed up there to begin attacking them: they began to try to shove them off.

"Grah! Air Buster!"

"Sheesh! Salamander!"

"Grrr! Spin Attack!"

"Grawl! Grrr! Grwual!"

Forte began to shoot the Air Buster around like mad, Blood Shadow used the Salamander Battle Chip and Sigma extended his sword and began to spin clockwise along his axis: Gospel Jr. was jumping around like mad as if trying to shake them off by jumping and landing back.

"Mwah, hah, hah, hah, hah, hah!" Someone laughed.

"That voice feels familiar!" Sigma grumbled.

"TOO familiar." Blood Shadow hissed.

"Yeah. I know!" Forte hissed.

"Grrr…"

"Go! Hunt them!"

"Grawl!"

"Uwa~h! Mommy~! Run for it!"

"I'm giving chase, too!"

Blood Shadow used the "Salamander" to jump into the air and reach an upper road: he began to chase someone running ahead of him while Gospel Jr. was ramming into the road's pillars as if hoping to make the culprit fall off it.

"Wait!"

"I'm not gonna wait! I'm Arifu Sell!"

"I knew it. Only you would mishear the name like that. And you're using a voice-changing device to hide your dialect. But my zoom ability already told me what I suspected." Blood Shadow grumbled.

"Going somewhere?"

"UWA~H! The red blonde punk!"

"Zero. Remember it… Bubble Man!"

The culprit turned out to be Bubble Man, who'd been stopped on his tracks by the sudden appearance of Zero there who was aiming his sword at the guy: Blood Shadow caught up too and cornered the guy.

"Puku! That bomb should've been enough, de puku! That package which showed up in my store had a letter which said it, puku!"

"Hmpf. So Alive Cell bothered to send you that. The guy must've hired some hacker out there to do the job for him… We're wasting our time here: let's resume the hunt. And you get lost."

Zero jumped off the road followed by Blood Shadow and Bubble Man ran off while crying: they rejoined the other two and sighed.

"What a waste of time and energies." Forte grumbled.

"Well. We can be sure of one thing: the culprit isn't gonna let computers stop them. Sheesh." Blood Shadow grumbled next.

19:15 PM (Japan Time)…

"… Netto - ku~n!"

"… Another glitch?"

"I'm afraid so, my precious."

"Lovely."

"So?"

"What do you want? You wanna play the foot-job?"

"Nope. I wanna do like Noa – kun and Raf."

"S&M, huh… So you asked them to let you the stuff?"

"Sure. So? Once? Only once? My precious?"

"Fine~… Since you could never actually harm anyone… It might help me vent off this mood."

"Yes, the precious is precious!"

"Sheesh. Why do I have such bad luck in life?"

"Ask the precious, oh yes, the precious and its rabbits."

"Rabbits? Don't mix in random stuff now, niisan."

"I'm random mixing guy!"

"Sure, sure."

"Beware! I suspect that that Achroma guy will invent a device to causes glitches in all Pokémon Encyclopedias!"

Netto had been sitting on his bed and reading a _tankobon_ when Saito suddenly loomed from the left while looking too cherry: Netto guessed what was going on and rolled his eyes while Saito seemed to be getting cheerier and cheerier with every passing moment.

"Yeah, yeah, Sure, sure. Let's just get this on and be done with it: then I wanna keep reading. We already finished the homework so…"

"So it's time to have some forbidden fruits, my precious…"

"Will you quit imitating Gollum?"

"Yes, my precious. Let's imitate anti – Gollum."

"Anti…? I give up."

"Heh, heh, heh. Otouto – chan's patience is shorter than life!" Saito grinned.

"Sure, sure. I was never the patient type."

Netto calmly undressed and left all of his clothes save the socks atop a chair: Saito opened the closet and took out a sports bag with a zipper which he opened and drew the leather bands: he set them on Netto who looked slightly resigned and then lied face-up on the bed.

"For starters… I'll go raw. Then I'll go increasing the level. Steadily and subtly, my precious."

"Yeah, yeah. Just let's get this on already." Netto rolled his eyes.

Saito grinned and drew his penis which he quickly hardened: he picked Netto's legs and placed them over his shoulders to then pull Netto towards him: he thrust his penis into Netto and he gasped from the sudden feeling: Saito began to pump without giving him time to get used to it: Netto looked like he was starting to feel the pleasure.

"Oh man. It's been such a long time since I'd had real sex… Up until now it was limited to you playing foot-job on me…" He muttered.

"See, my precious? You missed this, my precious… Let's fill the gap in your precious ass!"

He drew the anal vibrator and turned it on at "MAX" mode: he teased Netto's penis head with it and he laughed.

"It tickles!"

"I wanna see you coming, precious…."

"No more! It tickles too much!"

"Coming?"

"Uwah!"

Netto suddenly released and stained the area around his penis: he panted but Saito quickly put the vibrator on his ass: he began to thrust again and his moans increased.

"I'm coming!"

"Whoa!"

He released inside of Netto and sighed in relief while giggling: he let go of Netto's legs and then drew the clothes pegs which he clipped on his nipples along with a thin string connecting them: he began to pull from it and Netto moaned.

"I suddenly want to rush it all… Let's go all out!"

"Fine~…" Netto rolled his eyes.

Saito placed the urethra beads on his penis and the bell-shaped vibrator followed by the anal beads: Netto moaned and tried to keep his face straight: Saito loomed over him and Netto gasped since his eyes seemed to be filled with lust.

"Yeah… My precious… Mine… To play with…"

"Huh…? Niisan? Eh… I forgot the Math homework!"

"Huh! What? When did you…? The teacher will get annoyed!" He seemed to snap out of it.

_Phew. At least this still has effect._

"Huh? What was I…? Oh yeah. Our little game, _lil bro_."

"Yeah, yeah. Just don't go too far, right? It's a game, you know? And you've got the duty to ensure I don't get into a mess." Netto tried to divert his attention elsewhere.

"Well. Not like what happened in the Ameroupe Castle could've been foreseen beforehand." He shrugged.

"I always thought ya would've liked to go in a date with the Princess."

"E~H?" He looked horrified.

"Teasing ya~…"

"Netto – kun! That was horrible!" He protested.

"Yes, my horrible."

"Earth, swallow me whole." His whole cherry mood seemed to be gone and be replaced by pure exasperation.

"Ask Sakaki to use his Nidoking."

"I get the joke, yeah." He sighed.

"Be glad it wasn't patented by The Joker."

"I know, I know."

"Why don't we end this already?"

"… Yeah… Let's break your will!" He suddenly turned scary and his dialect sounded different.

"Whoa?" He didn't see that one coming.

Saito suddenly placed a blindfold over his eyes and then a ring on his mouth which kept it open: he picked Netto's head from behind with both hands and began to have him suck his penis in: Netto followed the pacing but then noticed how Saito let go the right hand and fumbled inside of the bag.

_What else is there inside of the bag? A ball-gag?_

Saito let go of his head all of a sudden to do something: Netto heard a slight metallic sound and a soft giggle.

_What? _

He suddenly felt something hot dropping atop his right nipple and he arched his body in a spasm: he felt another on his left nipple followed by some on his balls.

_A lighter and a candle? He's dropping wax into me? This isn't normal: at all! Niisan! Something weird's gotten into you? Wait! Could it be? What Noa and Tooru told us? That they suddenly got the impulse to have sex the other day…? Is this the handiwork of "Alive Cell"…? Crap. I should've expected it but since I thought it was another glitch…! I gotta make him snap out of it!_

"Enjoying the pain, my toy-boy~? You'll become a good masochist who'll suck my cock." His dialect sounded ruder than ever.

_And the culprit is also making him change his dialect? Or is he capable of hijacking his speech functions and imitate whatever the culprit says from afar?_

"Heh, heh, heh! I'm sure you'd be valued at 500,000 Z at the very least: too bad that those bullet wounds rob ya of horniness."

_This guy's mad. And I gotta find a way to stop niisan…_

"Here! Suck it up, pig!"

Saito suddenly forced him to suck on his penis again while he kept on dropping wax all over Netto's skin: he suddenly tied a collar around the base of his cock from which four bands extended: Saito tightened them to keep his balls tightly gripped.

_This pain! It's constantly haunting me! Like it's gonna crush my balls: this guy's a sadist! We gotta ring the alarm and go all out into finding out who the hell they are…!_

"Here I go! Eat it up!"

Saito released inside of Netto's mouth and he swallowed it: Saito placed a ball-gag on him and then turned Netto around to place him face-down: he violently pulled out the anal beads and then began to pump into his ass: Netto inwardly groaned.

"This is doggy-style! You're my DOG!"

_Someone stop him already! Wait a minute… That's it! My chip implant: it should be registering that things are off! If only Dr. Lartes noticed…!_

"… Sorry for this!"

"Huh? Who…? Uack!"

"Quick!"

_Huh? Those voices…? Ah! Drake and Hiro? Whoa! So they got told to come? Phew! Saved!_

"Oi, Netto! Don't move. I'm going to take these out!

Hiro suddenly pulled out the urethra beads and the bell-shaped vibrator while Drake unleashed the bands tightening his balls: he suddenly released and groaned as he spurted out white stuff: Hiro took out the blindfold and between he and Drake helped Netto take off all the stuff on him: he saw that Saito was knocked out on the floor and lying face-down in there.

"Saved!" He sighed in relief.

"Yeah. We got the hunch that if the culprit decided to act again they'd target Saito's glitches so… We rushed over. Since you'd lent us the house key then we came in without trouble…" Hiro admitted.

"I called Dr. Lartes. He should be checking up to try to figure out if the signal is still around." Drake announced.

"Huff! That guy's a sadist and a dangerous one. If we don't find the guy soon then there's gonna be a tragedy: I can see it coming!" Netto insisted next.

"Sure thing."

"Uh-unh…? What was I…? What was that blackness which suddenly assaulted me…?" Saito began to mumble.

"Niisan? Are you alright?"

"Huh… Looks like I gave you some trouble, guys… I'm sorry…"

"Don't mind it. You were being manipulated."

"Heck. I don't understand how they could." He grumbled.

"Yeah. Dr. Lartes hasn't figured out anything yet. It's true that, yesterday, before we were gassed, Hiro – kun had begun to tease me by cuffing me to the bed and playing with the vibrator but he didn't get past there. His behavior wasn't odd." Drake admitted.

"Yeah. I didn't feel different. Or maybe… Well. I felt like I should spice the deal up but I didn't want to, looking back on it… Maybe the hypnosis wasn't that strong and some part of my subconscious didn't want to push it because that was our deal." Hiro frowned and reminded.

Hiro's PET (colored black and red and having the "Delta" character colored silver as emblem) rang so he replied to the call.

"Hello? It's me, Vadous." A man announced.

"Whoa! Zataki – san. Been a while."

"Yeah. I know. Lartes finally told me what was going on. Are you guys alright?"

"It was a very close thing." Netto admitted.

"What happened?"

"Well. I got hypnotized. Totally. I lost control of myself. I almost drove Netto – kun to the edge."

"Heck. I was hoping that we'd shaken off trouble for a while but it's come back. We've got nothing on the culprit?"

"As far as I know, no… There are far too many _scenarios_: they could be totally solo and have no involvement with Keitai Denwa to begin with as well, so…" Hiro admitted.

"Heck. This isn't going to be easy to solve. I hope this guy doesn't become another "Zeta"…"

"Let's hope that, yeah, but at least "Zeta" wasn't a sadistic madman like this one."

"You've got a point. Tomorrow I'll mobilize Omega once he goes through the firmware update. That should concern the guy."

"Yeah. If they want to challenge the Committee then they should realize that we're starting to take them seriously. Maybe they'll show some movement or another. I'm worried about Hikawa, though." Hiro pointed out.

"Ah. Yeah. Ice Man isn't _that_ strong to defend him even if he were to fight with the culprit. Guess I'll tell Blood to be escort and stay ready on his PET in case the culprit targeted him. Tomono has Rafael with him and you guys are alright so… Besides. Not like we're gonna let them get any close to your houses again… If the guy knows about the Committee then they should know that we're not going to let that slip." Vadous calmly exposed to them.

"Boss? I think I'm into something. But I'll need another while to figure it out… It's a hunch, really… I don't have any concrete proof… Maybe I'll have something solid by tomorrow." Another man told him.

"Good, Lartes. But don't push it either."

"That's my motto, Boss."

"Huff. Yeah. You're right."

"Heh, heh, heh! B-B-B-B-Bertie~! Come to my side~!" Sigma sang in the background.

"When the fuck am I gonna install a serious mode switch into that brute, anyway?" He growled aloud as if forgetting the line was open.

"Calm down, Boss."

"Huff! I know. Just tell that brute to resume the search!"

"Roger. Oi! Sigma! Resume the search or else…!"

"Yikes! R-roger!"

"That moron…!" Vadous muttered.

"Maybe you need some green tea?" Dr. Lartes suggested.

"Yeah. Don't bother. I'm gonna fetch myself."

"Roger."

"See you around, guys, and don't lower the guard. This is far from being over: it's more like this is but the beginning."

"Understood."

The call ended and the group sighed: Saito and the others packed the stuff and he handed the bag back to Hiro: Hiro frowned and seemed to realize something as he checked it again.

"Say, Drake… I didn't have a lighter and a candle before, right?"

"True."

"Then someone's broken in and added them?" Saito realized.

"I doubt there'll be fingerprints on these if our culprit is as careful as they were yesterday with the wooden horse thing. Turns out it was stolen from a legal _yaoi_ club in Densan City…" Hiro sighed.

"And the club doesn't know who stole it?"

"No. They came in at late dawn, after they'd closed, and the security camera got sprayed by someone so it didn't record anything. The alarms didn't go off either: it was set on the front door and they forgot that there was a back-door." Drake replied.

"Why does everyone forget about the back-doors? And it's true that some Sweden spy escaped through the back-door?" Saito rolled his eyes.

"Yeah. I remember asking Mr. Denpa and he told me that was in a book titled _The Fifth Woman_, by Henning Mankell, where a policeman says that he got reminded of that tale. The suspect they were watching over fled through there. Talk about a shameful error: not checking how many doors there were."

"Really…" Netto sighed in defeat.

"Why do I feel like Akihara Town always becomes the center of all?"

"Dunno…"

23:45 PM (Japan Time)…

"… So? It'd seem that not everything went according to your "perfect" scheme, Alive."

"Man. Keitai. Don't tell me you're THAT dense."

"Oh yeah? Illuminate me."

"Heh! Ya were asking for it!"

Alive Cell kept his cocky behavior as he talked with Keitai Denwa over the phone: Keitai wasn't too surprised but Alive seemed to keep his smug mood.

"It was a warning, a teaser, a demonstration! The main dish will be tomorrow, as ya know!"

"I know." Keitai calmly replied.

"Heh, heh, heh. It'll be cooler than Mr. Cool."

"How lame."

"Hah! And who was the one who caught because he talked too much last year?"

"How the devil could I know that they already knew that those "Death Club" guys were but 3 Navis? And it wasn't intentional that I mentioned the seal thing… Sheesh. But I've learnt the lesson. That was one thing, but, in your case, I think that you'll be underestimating those guys."

"Hmpf! They'll be the ones to underestimate me!"

"We'll see about that tomorrow."

"Yeah! Tomorrow you'll have to admit that I'm a genius!"

"You just happened to catch them with the guard down. But from now that won't work anymore. They're coming for YOU."

"Let them come! And be defeated! I'm INVINCIBLE! Mwa, hah, hah!"

"Hmpf! Damned fool! Tomorrow you'll regret these words! Hah!"


	5. Chapter 5: Stall terror

**Chapter 5: Stall terror**

14:26 PM (Japan Time), Friday June the 3rd…

"… Blues. Anything from Laika?"

"No, sir. He didn't find anything."

"That of yesterday was worrying."

"Indeed, sir. According to Blood Shadow, sir, Dr. Lartes had a hunch of the trick but he needed to gather evidence."

"Hum. Of course."

"Hey there~! The local _desperado_ dropped by~!"

"Oh heck. Not you again."

"Sheesh."

Ijuuin Enzan was discussing with Blues while sitting on his usual IPC VP Office chair: he looked concerned over the news and Blues did as well: Forte suddenly showed up behind Blues while grinning and both groaned in annoyance.

"I've got info."

"About the culprit?"

"They're the Prince of Evil!"

"Prince of Evil? Sure, sure." Enzan skeptically muttered.

"The Prince of Numbers!"

"Sheesh."

"The Prince of Gags!"

"Oh yeah?"

"The Prince of Nothingness!"

"Charmed."

"Aren't we all?"

"Quit screwing around: get to the point. Or else get out. How did you get in, anyway?" Blues grumbled.

"My portal system, see~… It's not accounted by since, technically, it's a "prototype-model Internet" system, see… In short: a system which was designed to be implemented when Proto would've been fully active and completed… When they built the current Internet they recycled some source stuff from Proto and this was included but they didn't get to implement it out of fears about security~…" He explained.

"Ah. So that's why." Enzan calmly muttered.

"Yeah. So? Are you gonna go into the disco and meet Madonna?"

"No." He drily replied.

"My, my. What dryness."

"I couldn't care less. Go play some RPG."

"Oh yeah. I'm gonna go watch "The Last Story"… It might come to haunt ya, Ijuuin… Scary, scary~!"

"I'm SO afraid."

"Get. Out." Blues hissed.

"My, my… Hum… Yessss… Precioussss…" He prolonged the "s" sound in purpose.

"Stop imitating Parsel – tongue now."

"Heh, heh, heh. I'm a cocktail! The Gollum Parsel Cocktail!"

"Sure, sure. Patent it already. And find yourself a lawyer." Enzan challenged next.

"Find yourself a good Doberman, my fellow."

"I don't need one."

"Your psychosis specialist says so."

"Sheesh."

"Get – out."

"Sure. I'm out and in by the in-out-out-in way!"

He giggled and opened one of his portals or swirls to get in and exit the area: Blues sighed in relief and so did Enzan: his PET beeped and he picked it up.

"Well. Ijuuin. Did you admire your grandness today as well?" Laika was onscreen and he looked smug.

"Laika. What the hell do you want?"

"To tell you something…"

"It better be worth my time."

"Laika – sama, I do think that…" Search Man began to argue in the background.

"Be quiet, Search Man." He commanded.

"… Roger, sir." He sighed.

"So? Did you get my invitation letter?"

"Invitation letter? To where?" He frowned.

"To somewhere."

"Be more specific."

"Somewhere underground."

"A disco?" He groaned.

"Close, close."

"Oi. Don't tell me you're into S&M now."

"Ah? Who knows?"

"I decline. Find a guy your size and play with the guy. Bully."

"Bully? I'm just one year older than you. You're 15, I'm 16." He reminded Enzan.

"Sheesh. I thought you were 20."

"My, my. Do you prefer guys on their 20s?"

"No. It's none of your business, Mr. Foreign Serviceman."

"Charmed."

"Do you have anything worth it to say?"

"Oh yeah. I found that Bubble Man got another of those Mettool bombs and was planning on setting it on your firewall but I intercepted the guy, see. I've got a witness."

"And who's that?"

"A Samurai from the Sengoku Era, I guess."

"Laika – sama: his name is Yamato Man, sir. And I don't think he'll take this lightly if he hears to it, sir." Search Man sighed.

"Yamato Man? I'm skeptical."

"No wonder. I'm the only witness. Or the second, if you count Bubble Man as witness of his own handiworks." He whispered to Blues.

"I should've seen it coming MILES away."

"MILES! Mad Irradiating Logging Escalating Sulfur!"

"Earth, swallow me whole." Enzan groaned.

"Well then. Stay in shape, Ijuuin. One of these days you'll want to bite the forbidden fruit…" Laika teased with a grin.

"Just get lost in the tundra already."

The call ended and Blues sighed while Enzan slapped his forehead out of exasperation.

"That guy needs some psychoanalysis. And soon!"

17:18 PM (Japan Time)…

"… Huh? Oh man. I forgot the Math textbook."

"It's odd for ya to forget things, niisan."

"Is that irony?"

"Huh… Well…"

"Whatever. Just go on ahead. I'm going to get it back."

"Alright. See you at home."

"I find it odd I forgot it… Maybe I dropped it…?"

Saito and Netto were coming out of the middle school building along with all other students: Saito was checking his backpack and found that his Math textbook was missing so he told Netto to head on ahead: he climbed back up to his classroom and found it beneath the teacher's chair: he sighed and picked it up.

"Dekao – kun. The guy must've thought he was being smart but he sucks at it, really. Oh well. Let's drop by the restroom before leaving and catching up to Netto – kun." He muttered.

He headed out into the corridor and walked it down until he reached the men's toilet: he calmly whistled a tune as he entered into the third stall, the rightmost one, and closed the door behind him.

"Gotcha."

"HUH?"

Someone suddenly closed the right arm around his neck and he tried to break free of the grip: that someone easily locked the door with the left hand and then took out a piece of cloth from the left jeans' pocket: he pressed it against Saito's mouth and he tried to take it off.

_This stench…! Chloroform…! Damn it! It's gotta be "Alive Cell", the culprit of these incidents! Someone…! Someone…! Help…! Netto – kun…! Run away…! Run… away…!_

17:31 PM (Japan Time)…

"… Heh, heh, heh. Nice ass, yeah… This goes in!"

_HUH! What the…!_

Saito was suddenly woken up when he noticed someone stuffing a cock into his ass: he realized that the culprit had placed a blindfold over his eyes and he had a ball-gag on: his wrists were tied with rope behind him and there were another two circling his upper body above and below the nipples, which had metallic cups on them.

_Shit. Getting raped in the school's toilet stall…! _

"Heh, heh, heh. Yeah. Ya will gimme more money than ya lil bro: wounds lower the value~!"

_This guy's mad! _

"Heh, heh, heh. That's all there's to those "Committee" guys? Keitai: ya exaggerate too much and then try to play wise!"

_I knew it! This guy was on league with Keitai Denwa! But it sounds like Keitai was warning this guy the whole time! And this guy has gotten cocky by now… Guess the guy doesn't want to pick up a fight with us anymore and would rather prefer everyone forgot he exists…!_

"How does a true cock feel like, gnat?"

_Why do I feel like I know this guy's voice despite using this rude dialect, anyway? It's gotta be my imagination, playing tricks on me! Huh? Now I notice: the guy's plugged my penis… Whatever! If you think you'll get away with then you're very mistaken! My nanomachines must be registering my altered body status…!_

"This is what's waiting for ya: sucking your master's cock while on your knees! Heh, heh, heh!"

_You're underestimating me. And Mr. Vadous. You're going to regret it soon enough, you villain!_

"Here I go~!"

The villain released inside of Saito and took out his cock to then stuff two vibrators there which he turned on: Saito inwardly moaned as his penis began to dance.

"Now! On your knees!"

The man forced Saito to sit on his knees and then pulled a chain connected to a collar around his neck: Saito's head and body were dragged across the floor and he suddenly felt his nose hitting the cock of the man: the man took out the ball-gag and suddenly placed one of those rings which kept his mouth forcibly open: he stuffed his cock inside of Saito's mouth and forced him to suck it.

_Hell. But you won't be laughing for much more!_

"Heh. Once I'm done testing ya then ya go straight to the auction hall: I'll get millions! And then I can show to Keitai that the guy's a meek coward who can't do anything but rely on some sneaky guy to hack into that Zataki guy's PC!"

_Rely on some sneaky guy? I think Mr. Denpa mentioned it to us: that they suspected Keitai Denwa had an enigmatic collaborator who was more skilled at PCs… Maybe the guy was the author of the flying micro-robot we found in our classroom last summer, too… They got a tip of Keitai's location but when they searched the flat he was gone. There was a note which seemed to have written at random which said "I still wonder who "Hades" was and what the guy looked like"… Which meant that they'd never had a face-to-face meeting… And with the name "Hades" it's not easy to track anyone. _

"Here! Suck it up! Heh, heh, heh! I'm a genius! But it was smart to quit those boring guys. First I thought they were fun but then they turned out to be totally mad. Treating us like we were mass-produced factory stuff, with serial numbers and all… They were mad! It was better to run for your life than risk being killed out of some random caprice or as scapegoat for their failures!"

_The "Common Patterns", a murky bunch of ultra-conservatives who seem to be obsessed with George Orwell's _1984_ novel… They're mad._

"More! Faster!"

_Mad, yeah. They think they can eliminate "individual spirit" and turn people into ignorant masses who just do what they're told and don't even think. _

ZUM! CLINC!

"What the?"

"Freeze."

_That voice…! Omega – san!_

"Who the… Ah! One of Zataki's Carnival punks!"

"Hmpf. Wanna brawl, punk?"

"Punk! Me! Ya dare!"

"I dare. Punk Go Home."

"Nya~h! Fine! I'll beat ya! And then Keitai will know that he underestimated me! Beware! CQC! Hah! Hah! Hah!"

"Hmpf."

BLOF!

"Ouwah! Tripped me, the…! What are ya doing now? Leaning on the right wall, folding the arms and closing your eyes?"

"Boring. Not worth my time or energies."

"WHA~T?" The culprit growled.

"Should I begin by breaking your right leg?"

"H-heck. This guy's starting to sound like a pro assassin."

"I'm no assassin. I'm the Dark Messiah."

"Hmpf! Some RPG fan!"

"So what. Is that gonna help you win?" Omega challenged.

"S-shit! I'll remember this!"

"Hmpf. It was better to let them run than try to start a fight: the guy was armed and could've started shooting at mad. That could've been dangerous… And, besides, we know who they are by now. We can trace the guy anytime. But let's humiliate them for now."

Saito felt how the blindfold was removed and he blinked several times to see Omega crouching in front of him: he took out the ring and Saito spat some of the stuff on his mouth.

"Puah!"

"Are you alright? Sorry I was late. I was trying to come up with a strategy…" He told him.

"I'm f-fine. T-thank you, sir."

"_San wa iranai_."

"Huh… Even so…" He made a weak smile.

Omega was a Navi who seemed to be taller than Saito, as proven when he helped him get to his feet: he could be about a meter and eighty tall, more or less.

A blue jewel shaped like an inverted triangle was set on the forehead of his helmet which was emitting a cross-shaped flash.

His eyes' irises were blue and they displayed concern while long blond hair came out from behind him and reached until the floor.

He had a red vest over his mainly black body and red armor over his forearms and boots: two golden circlets were set around his forearms and on his boots as well.

"Let's take out this damned stuff. But since it's full of fingerprints then we can use them to help us check if the name is correct."

"Who are they?" Saito asked.

"I'll tell you once we get you home. Your bro's coming to pick you up."

"Saito – niisan! Are you alright?"

"Huh… Somehow, Netto – kun…"

Netto rushed in while having an angst-filled face: Omega had removed all of the stuff by now and Saito had begun to dress back with his clothes (he'd only had the socks on): Netto hugged him and Saito sighed while forming a weak smile: he suddenly fainted and Netto gasped.

"Whoa! Niisan fainted!"

"Guess the stress was too much… And, by the way…"

Omega suddenly gripped something small and invisible set on the back of Saito's neck and pulled: there was some frizzling and a small computer chip was revealed: it was as wide as a finger but it couldn't be longer than one third of a finger's length.

"W-what's that?" Netto asked.

"I'll explain once we get you home. Mr. Denpa is out there, right? He'll drive us there. Dr. Lartes is coming over too."

"A-alright. Say. Is this Keitai's plot?"

"No. From the guy's boasts I guess the only link between this guy and Keitai is that they were in the same org. But it'd seem Keitai was skeptical of this guy's plan from the start. Guess the guy learnt the lesson of the last summer and is trying to stay as low as possible."

"Couldn't the "cell" part of this guy's name be related to Keitai? You know, a portable phone is also called a cell phone."

"Hum. Could be. Oh well. Let's not fight over the details. We gotta get your big bro home." Omega shrugged.

"A-alright."

Omega turned invisible while Netto carried Saito by piggy-backing: he sighed and made a weak smile.

_Don't worry, niisan… The nightmare's over…_

19:31 PM (Japan Time)…

"… Uh-unh… Huh…! Damn it!"

"Calm down, Saito – kun. You're home and safe."

"That voice…? Dr. Lartes?"

"Yes. That's me. Relax. It's over."

"Phew! For one moment I feared the worst."

"No wonder. But that's it. It's over."

Saito woke up on his house's bedroom and spotted a man sitting on a chair to the right of the bed.

This man could be on his mid-20s and about a meter and eighty tall more or less.

He had black slightly messy hair plus brownish irises' eyes.

He wore a medic's coat with the ID "Dr. Kazimura Lartes" written on it and sported brown pants plus shoes: he had a pair of reading glasses on, too, which he adjusted.

"Maybe I should explain the source of this incident. These are it: a variant of the memory control chips Boss designed… But these are designed to input some signals into the brain and stimulate some parts upon being fed an external signal…" He showed them the chip.

"And how did that get stuck to niisan?"

"Do you remember the incident in the Chemistry Lab?"

"Ah! I remember. But it was just a prank by the 3rd year students."

"That's what they wanted you to believe. As long as you thought it was a prank then you'd be shameful to admit you fell for it and would quickly forget about it." Dr. Lartes exposed.

"What! So it was set like that in purpose?"

"In effect. By the replacement P. E. Teacher…"

"… Ah! I see…! So this is why I thought that I recognized something about the culprit's voice…! The replacement P. E. teacher was the culprit all along…!"

"What!" Netto gasped.

"Kendou Marou." Omega announced after he became visible.

"Come to think of it… The guy never mentioned his name and none of us bothered to ask. Guess that was because he was a replacement and we knew he'd be leaving in a while." Netto realized.

"It was no coincidence that the guy was there. He actually set it up so that the normal P. E. teacher would believe he'd won the lottery and gave him a prize as well so he's gone off to Izu and is having fun there. He doesn't know anything, obviously enough." Omega let out.

"Hence why… It seemed so sudden and the other teachers seemed to get annoyed when someone mentioned it…" Saito gasped.

"Indeed. And he was smug enough to use his real name. From our investigation we found out that Tomono, Akashi and Hikawa also experienced the same "prank"… And that explains their weird behavior as well… But so as to make each incident look different and avoid us finding a common pattern he bothered to set them up like that…"

"And the whole of it was to abduct me and sell me in an underground auction, then…?"

"So it'd seem. Or maybe that was a red herring. The "Committee" is checking around to try to catch rumors."

"What about Keitai?"

"If Keitai was being careful and predicted the guy could fail I wouldn't be surprised if he's changed his contact phone or email. But I'm sure they're using phone because it's easier to dispose of: just get rid of the phone somewhere and get another. This way it'll become impossible to track Keitai… But that's the least of our worries. Alive is armed and could start a shootout anytime anywhere. Max alert has been issued already."

"No wonder. With such a dangerous man roaming out there then you can't lower the guard."

"Indeed. We've retrieved these things and we'll be studying them but I doubt them yielding any real clues."

"Besides. The guy sucks at physical combat. That wasn't CQC: it looked like some poor Jackie Chan imitation."

"No wonder." Dr. Lartes wasn't surprised.

"Hello? Is anyone home?" Forte called out from the PC.

"Forte? What do you want?" Omega coolly questioned.

"Hey! Omega. Been a while. Well. I happened to find out that there's a search and capture order for some guy… Is that our culprit?" Forte asked as he showed up on the screen.

"Correct. That's our culprit."

"Any ideas of where he could go off to?"

"He's got a bro-in-law: Mahha Gou, Middle School Teacher at Cyber City's Cyber Academy. But they haven't met each other for 5 years so we think the bro-in-law is unrelated." Omega told him.

"Cyber City, huh… Not like he'll start a brawl with Green Town's robots, I guess, or Cyber Academy's ones…"

"You never know. We can't discard anything at this stage. We mustn't lower the guard."

"Alright."

"Grrr…"

"What's wrong?" Forte asked Gospel Jr.

"Grawl!"

"Hum. It'd seem a Heel Navi is trying to dig a tunnel to get inside and loophole the firewall…"

"They won't be able to. I upgraded it to extend 50 meters below ground: I learnt the lesson of last month when that Drill Man guy drilled inside, you see." Saito grinned.

"Heh! Good, good. Go, Gospel Jr.! The afternoon sprint!"

"Grra~u~h!"

"UWA~H!"

"Grawlll!"

"HELP ME~!"

"Sweat and burn fats and calories, Mr. Smith!" Forte joked.

"UWA~H!"

"I'm going to catch the guy. I'm sure Keitai is using the guy to monitor what's going on and figure out if Alive failed or not. We can use the guy to send a message to the guy, anyway." Omega announced.

"Good."

A purple swirl like the one Forte used formed in the middle of the room and he ran inside: it immediately vanished and Saito yawned: Netto sat on the edge of the bed and touched his forehead.

"Relax. Niisan. If you feel like resting then do it."

"Thanks, Netto – kun…"

"Do Navis dream of Cyber Sheep?"

"I feel some kind of _déjà vu_ and I dunno the why, but… Guess that, Netto – kun." He giggled.

He quickly fell asleep so Netto and Dr. Lartes climbed downstairs: Haruka was sitting in the living room sofa and distractedly looking at some program on the TV.

"Ma'am? There is no need to fret. He's alright. He just needs to rest for the remainder of today."

"Thank you very much, sir."

"It's nothing, ma'am. It is my duty, ma'am."

"Why are there such cruel people out there?" She sighed.

"I'd like to know that myself, too, ma'am…"

"Ah. I am sorry. I shouldn't have brought it up. Thank you very much for your help, _sensei_."

"It is nothing. If you shall excuse me… I'm going back to the hospital: I've got report to my superior. Good afternoon."

"Good-bye, sir."

"Good afternoon."

Dr. Lartes picked a brown hat and then left the house: Haruka made a weak smile and sat back on the sofa.

"Mama. I'll cook the dinner tonight. You needn't bother."

"Ah… Thank you, Netto… It's just…"

"I know. I've never understood why people need to be so cruel either: we humans are complicated creatures."

"Truly… Oh well. Guess I should try to concentrate on something else: maybe some comedy show will relieve my mood."

"I'll be studying."

"Do your best."

Netto returned upstairs and sat down on the chair in front of the PC: he began to study while distractedly glancing at Saito's sleeping face: he looked like he was in peace.

_Don't worry, Saito – niisan. The nightmare's over. Once we close that guy then this incident will be closed, yet… I still wonder… Are "Zeta" and "Hades" related? Are they the same person? Or is "Zeta" someone totally unrelated…? Who was "Zeta", in the end? Will we ever know…?_


	6. Chapter 6: Numbers

**Chapter 6: Numbers**

07:37 AM (Japan Time), Saturday June the 4th…

"… Phone? So early? Who could it be?"

Obihiro Shun sluggishly woke up from his sleep as he heard his PET beeping: he rubbed his eyes and stretched as if to try to shake off the sluggishness.

"Fua~h… It isn't even 8 AM. Some trouble popped out and they need my help?" He wondered.

He picked the PET and didn't even bother to look at who the caller was: he patched it in and the holographic screen popped out.

"Hiya~… Shun – kun… Been a while~…"

"A-Akira!"

"Yes. That's me. And my Yorkshire dialect."

"That joke's lame."

"Why? Just because I live in Edinburg that doesn't mean I can't use Yorkshire dialect, my dear cousin."

"What do you want?"

"I've got some info regarding the current affair. I'll send it to you via mail in a while. But I wanted to see your face again. It's been a month, you know. I've had a lot of patience."

"That creepy smile of yours always spooks me."

"I might be Spooky Man."

"Sure, sure."

Akira was a boy around Obihiro's age (that is, around 13 or 14 years old) who had purplish hair which formed some flocks over his forehead and green eye irises.

He had a permanent smile on his face and looked somewhat creepy.

"Anyway. I'm bottled up with the upcoming exams too. So I won't move from home until the summer when I'll get another permit to travel to Japan, officially to see Dad. I'll go meet him for some days and then I'll go to the house. You know the address, don't you? My cute and precious little lover…"

"Quit it with that title. I was never your lover. You dragged me there because you wanted to play S&M with me. Which you did. End of the tale, Akira." Obihiro grumbled.

"Ah. But you did enjoy it: I could tell it."

"Sheesh." He grumbled as if he knew Akira had a point.

"Anyway. Are you counting the days left for the release? Will you repeat starter? Oh yes. I was glad that they finally brought back a Poison – Type Gym. We hadn't had one ever since Gen II. And I'd like to, one day, to meet an Evil – Type Gym Leader." Akira giggled.

"I know, I know."

"I pity the overseas fans."

"Why's that?"

"Oh my! They're always saying "we want a Light Type!" but they don't know that the "Dark Type" is something NoA made up outta the blue because they didn't like how "Evil" sounded like. And if you check the Spanish version, they actually localized it as "Sinister"… I wonder what the problem with "Evil" as a name is… Not "cool" enough?" He sighed.

"Ask them."

"Oh yes, my precious. And I'll ask Jackson when the premiere of _The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey_ is…"

"So? Will you send the info to me or…?"

"My, my. What short patience! Here it comes. Beware of the heavenly melody which comes with it! Heh, heh, heh."

PUOT! PUET! PUAT! PUIT! PUUT!

"That's a "heavenly melody"? It's some trumpet parody!" Obihiro groaned out of exasperation.

"By the way, this summer… It'll have been 3 years, right?"

"3 years… Ever since "Gospel" was dismantled… But I can't complain: I've been able to live my life…" He sighed.

"Sorry. I didn't want to bring up sad memories."

"Don't mind it. It's me who should face those and accept that what's done is done. There's no turning back in the clock. And not like I'm to blame for what happened with "Gospel"… Wily was remotely brainwashing me and then tried to use me as a fall guy."

"Oh well. Maybe you need something to absorb you?"

"Such as?"

"Some RPG… _Record of Agarest War, The Last Story…_ I've been watching these two recently. If you like _ecchi_ teasing then _Record_ is your game: there are _onsen_ scenes but there's nothing explicit…" Akira teased him with a grin.

"Guess that. They must be all covered with towels, submerged or maybe there's fog to hide explicit parts."

"Holmes. I take my hat off in front of you."

"Hah, hah. How original."

"Isn't it? By the way, Cheren will be the 1st Gym Leader… Reminds me of Green, you know? A Rival who got recycled as Gym Leader… Although Green did get to become the PKMN League Champion…" Akira exposed while rubbing his chin.

"What time is it there, anyway?"

"Close to midnight…"

"And you're still awake?"

"It's a Friday, Shun – kun."

"I'd forgotten. I thought today was a Thursday."

"My, my. Calendar Man's handiworks?"

"Sheesh."

"Speaking of time… I heard there was some trouble back in St. Valentine's with some weird fellows… Do you know anything?"

"No. I was busy completing a request. I heard of it later on but it seemed that it'd been no big deal."

"Ah. Alright. I thought they might've been involved this time around as well but it'd seem it isn't the case."

"Huh? Ah! You got info about "Alive Cell"?" Obihiro had apparently checked the mail in the meanwhile.

"Yeah. He's gone to Kyoto and I've lost track of the guy. But I suspect it's a red herring and he's planning to go to Cyber City instead. He might use it to hide for one day or two and then go elsewhere. The guy is constantly on the move."

"No wonder. After challenging the Committee like that…"

"He forgot his Single Action Army." Akira sneered.

"Sheesh."

"And his Wesker Sunglasses."

"Oh come on."

"Speaking of Wesker! This autumn we'll get to play _Biohazard 6_: it'd seem that, at last, bio-terrorism has become a worldwide threat… And I do think that one of the new characters, Jake Muller, is more than he seems. Oh well, I guess we'll figure it out when the game comes out."

"Yeah, yeah. Is that all you had to say?"

"Maybe yes maybe not. Ask the Master Chief and his singing rifle when he gets back in action this autumn as well… Years spent in hibernation shouldn't have reduced his skills. Let us hope so, my precious."

"Sheesh. Stop imitating Gollum already. You sound like a leech wanting to suck the blood outta me."

"My, my. Well then. Look forward to our reencounter in the summer vacations, my cute little lover."

Akira giggled and ended the call: Obihiro fumed and lied back on the bed after leaving the PET on the side-table: he placed both hands behind his head and looked at the ceiling.

"3 years…! Time sure has flown by… It's thanks to Netto – kun and, also, to Mr. Vadous… He knew from the start that I was a pawn… So he set up everything to make the Net Police realize that… And in the meanwhile he kept me safe… And I haven't tried to build a new Navi for myself in this time either… Saw no need… No Navi would be able to understand the pain I've gone through… Losing my parents in that plane crash… How Uncle treated me in a horrible way… I ran away… Drill Man approached me: and that was the beginning of it…" He muttered as if he was reflecting.

"… Yo! Obihiro! Talking to the ceiling?" Forte laughed from inside of the PET.

"Forte? At least knock on the firewall and don't slip inside using your literal loophole."

"Heh, heh, heh. What's the catch?"

"Leo is gonna "Snatch" the Metagross Jakira has."

"Oho. Then I'm going in for the show. Leonel must feel lonely there with the girlfriend."

"Sure, sure." He rolled his eyes.

"Oh! By the way… Wave a waving wave!"

"Patent it for some fan or another invention." Obihiro tried to shake him off by improving.

"Heh, heh, heh. That a challenge? OK! There I go~!"

"Phew. Show him off… Let's check out Akira's data, then…"

10:40 AM (Japan Time)…

"… You now like this kind of play? Tooru – kun?"

"Huh… Yes, Meiru – chan… It stimulates me…"

"Heh. Guess that. Remember: we're pretending. It's a game."

"Of course. We're pretending."

Tooru was standing inside of his house's shower while having the S&M gear on: he didn't have a blindfold or a ball-gag but he was letting Meiru play with him anyway.

Meiru sported black leather boots and transparent mail over her legs plus long black leather gloves and mail over the exposed skin.

The main piece of dress was a one-piece leather suit which started below her shoulders and covered her front.

She was also sporting a strap-on which she was using to stuff into Tooru's ass along with a vibrator: she was pulling a chain attached to Tooru's collar from behind and Tooru seemed to like it as Meiru gripped his balls with the left hand.

"Do you think that man would've come for me?"

"Well… From what Mr. Denpa told me… I'd rather say no… The man seemed to be the _yaoi_ type, fortunately enough…"

"Yeah. I know. And I don't care if you wanna go have fun with the other boys: this is but a game we do. I won't be misguided anymore: I just want to fulfill this desire of me…" Meiru muttered.

"S-sorry. I brought up a bad topic."

"Oh no. You didn't, Tooru – kun. It's just accepting things as they are: that's all there is to it."

"You're right."

"Aren't I? Oh well. We'll soon begin to prepare the dreadful exams: but I'm sure we can overcome them."

"Of course. We've got the potential to."

"And I was so stupid before… Trying to vent off my random frustrations into you… Zataki – san sure contributed to setting me in the right path to walk. He brought up how my actions were starting to resemble those of the infamous underground criminal, the "Ice Queen"… I don't wanna end up like that woman ended up: torturing countless souls just for lust and greed… I just wanna be a normal girl… That's all I seek in life, for the time being…" Meiru began to mutter.

"That's the spirit we must have, Meiru – chan."

"I know. Oh well. Guess I'm gonna tease you. I want to see you going off several times in a row."

"Please go ahead."

"Tee, heh, heh. Alright, naughty boy."

Meiru picked a vibrator from a shelf and turned it on to rub it against Tooru's nipples (which had nothing on them to begin with): Tooru moaned and his penis got hard: Meiru pulled the chain and twisted some around her left forearm to keep Tooru on his feet before she picked his penis with the left hand and began to rub it: Tooru's moans increased in volume and Meiru giggled.

"How does it feel to have someone else rub you?"

"E-exciting!" He admitted.

"Tee, heh, heh. Guess it is. You're a good boy, Tooru – kun." Meiru told him while giggling.

"Y-yeah. I've been thinking that it's time we ended the "machismo" most guys end up having later on… I think that both boys and girls have the same possibilities each…"

"Those are some fair ideals. Hold into them."

"Yeah! That's what I intend to, Meiru – chan…!"

"Let's tease your naughty penis next, shall we?"

"Please…!" He sounded eager.

"Alright. You want it so badly… Here goes."

Meiru used the vibrator to tease Tooru's penis head next: he moaned and suddenly went off, staining the area around his navel: he panted and Meiru then teased him by sliding the vibrator down the length of the penis which got hard again and along the length of the balls: Tooru moaned again as Meiru used her left hand's fingers to pinch Tooru's left nipple as further teasing.

"Me… Meiru – chan…! It's… amazing! I'm going mad with pleasure! I can feel it everywhere…!"

"Well. Ain't that good news?"

"Splendid news…!" He admitted.

"Tee, heh, heh. Alright."

Meiru then slid her fingers up the skin around Tooru's navel to pick some of the white stuff and she used it to rubricate the strap-on: Tooru released again and Meiru then began to let go of the chain so he slowly got into his knees and panted.

"Will you cleanse this?"

"Y-yeah… I like cleansing this…"

She walked to his front and he looked up with eagerness at the strap-on lubricated with the white stuff: he began to lick around its length before taking it in and sucking it: Meiru folded her arms and looked mildly pleased with Tooru's acting: she'd begun to form a smug grin even but she gasped and quickly shook her heard sideways as if to snap the thought away.

_Crap. I almost began to get blinded by the lust… It's dangerous! I mustn't let lust overtake me or it'll become like before. And I don't want things to end up like that again. I must keep it under check. Let's try thinking of some gag or another… Hmmm… "Two go down a street and the middle one falls"… It's funny because it's impossible: there should be 3 of them!_

She stepped back so Tooru stopped licking the strap-on: Meiru turned off the shower and helped Tooru get to his feet: they walked out and Meiru helped Tooru dry with the towel: she used a hair dryer to dry out the leather and then smiled.

"Let's continue in your bed."

"Delighted. It's about time we tried something new. The same thing could get boring or repetitive over time." He smiled.

"Good."

Tooru followed Meiru into his bedroom: Meiru sat on the bed's right edge and Tooru did the same, sitting at her right: she then got into position in the middle of the bed and sat up: Tooru stood up and then began to lower his ass into the awaiting strap-on: he slid down it and moaned as he began to ride along it: Meiru smiled and used the vibrator to tease his right nipple as she pinched the left one.

"Does this feel better?"

"Oh yeah…! I can feel it pumping into me…! It's exciting! It was a good idea, Meiru – chan."

"Thanks. I can have bright ideas from time to time too. Did you make sure to shut down the PC and all?"

"Yeah. This way Yaito – chan won't be pestering us with prank phone calls to tease us." Tooru rolled his eyes.

"I know. I told her early on about this and she hasn't stopped teasing me about it… It's about time she behaved and worried about her dad's company. She's the heiress, after all! And I dunno why I feel some kind of _déjà vu_… Guess it's the result of building up so much exasperation regarding her…"

"Anyone would, anyone would."

"Oh well. Let's switch to cherry chat."

"True. Can you please tease my penis, Meiru – chan? It feels SO alive…!"

"Alright. Here goes!"

She suddenly placed the vibrator over his penis' head and his moans turned crazy: Meiru suddenly seemed to have an idea as she picked some of the chain and tied it so that the vibrator would remain attached in front of Tooru's penis: she then began to use both hands' fingers to tease his nipples while moving him up and down the length of the strap-on: Tooru kept on moaning.

"I'm… going off!"

"Go off! And experience the Nirvana!" She giggled.

"Whoa!"

Tooru went off and stained the area again: Meiru turned off the vibrator and retrieved it while helping Tooru slide up and then sit him on the bed with his legs spread open: she then had him sit on his knees and place his body downwards so that he was diagonally: Meiru then stuffed the vibrator into him again and began to pump into him again: Tooru moaned and Meiru giggled.

"So this is "doggy-style", eh? How does it feel like?"

"W-well… It feels like I'm inferior and you're superior… That I gotta rub my face against the floor… Guess that's why it's popular…"

"Could be, yeah. Oh well. It's just a tryout. It won't harm to try out, right, Tooru – kun?"

"Of course not… Ah! It's refreshing…! The vibration spreading through me and the feeling of being penetrated…! It's perfect!" He began to mutter in a dream-like state.

"Guess it must be. Here: a teaser!"

Meiru suddenly pinched the flesh to the right of the ass and Tooru moaned as he went off again: he panted and Meiru grinned.

"Well! I'd say we leave it at here for today."

"Y-yeah… Today was great… Heh, heh…"

19:39 PM (Japan Time)…

"… Huff. In the end that guy who tried to sneak into Rock Man's PC yesterday is nowhere to be found… Oh well. Guess I should give up on that chase and try to hunt further clues…"

"Grawl."

"So? No luck?"

"No, Zero. I guess the guy only wanted to figure out whether "Alive Cell" succeeded or not."

"Hmpf. Guess that. Oh well. I'll have another round to try to spot anything or anyone who is suspicious. Red Sword mobilized the "Hunters' Guild" as well: they've gone to scout Cyber City."

"Cyber City, huh… We did suspect the guy could try to get there so as to put some distance between us and them."

"Yeah. Obihiro told me he got info that it was possible he was gonna drop by the city tonight so I'm heading there too."

"Good."

"Ya won't head anywhere, you rascals!"

"Who the…?"

"Hmpf. A pawn…"

Forte sighed as he walked down a Reverse Internet road and talked aloud with "Gospel Jr.": Zero caught up with him and they began to discuss the possibilities: a voice rang out and they spotted a gray Heel Navi who used an old man's dialect standing in the midst of a square close by: both ran there and the Heel Navi drew a Super Vulcan Battle Chip.

"Delete~!"

He shot the rounds but Zero deflected them with his sword without too much effort: the Heel Navi, though, merely began to step back at a steadily increasing pace.

"Running away? I don't think so. Hah!"

Zero dashed forward but, suddenly, a pack of Heel Navis formed by 5 rows of 5 Navis each came in right in front of him: he stopped as another 3 packs formed left, right and behind him and Forte: they were surrounded by 100 enemies and they all had Long Blade and Super Vulcan Battle Chips equipped.

"Mwah, hah, hah. That "Alive Cell" guy paid me a good sum and I've prepared this trap! Struggle in vain and be DELETED!" The gray Heel Navi gloated.

"Hmpf. How frail. Their HP values don't rise past 100 HP. Piece of a cake for someone like me… Oi! Forte. Clear me a path: I'll give chase to that guy and you cleanse up." Zero called out.

"Roger! Besides, these guys are but automated Navis. They don't have a will so… And some of their data is badly encoded too… Let's put them out of their misery. Go, Gospel Jr.! Gospel Fire!"

"Grauwuru~h!"

"Gospel Jr." howled and then vomited reddish flames which wiped out 15 enemies of the front pack: Zero quickly rushed in with his sword and cut another row in half by their waists: Forte began to hover and drew his Hell's Buster.

"Hell's Buster!"

He bombarded the area around the remaining 5 Heel Navis and they were easily deleted: the gray Heel Navi gasped and began to step back as Zero jumped towards him: the guy dived into the depths to the left and Zero gave chase as the remaining 75 Navis closed on Forte and "Gospel Jr.": Forte merely kept on shooting while "Gospel Jr." rammed straight into them to knock them out of their formation.

"Elec! Aqua! Wood!"

"Gospel Jr." attacked each pack with yellowish, bluish and greenish flames to delete most of their attacking members.

"Good. Hmmm… About 19 left… Good job. Let's try to gather them in one spot and cleanse it up in one blow."

"Grawl!"

The enemies began to converge while forming a triangle formation: one in the front, three in the second row and 3 rows of 5 enemies each: Forte build up a sphere of energy on his right hand.

"Earth… Breaker! The end!"

He hit the ground with it and the explosion wiped out the remaining enemy Navis: Forte then rushed and dived to follow Zero's trail: he landed in a small area which had many pathways branching out in different directions: he followed one and ended up at an elevated platform which contained two stone status set on the north end.

"What are those? A lion and a hawk…? Wait a min… I think I've seen those before… Ah! I remember: the Cyber City "Cybeasts"… The predecessors of "Gospel Jr."… Well. To be exacts… Greiga IS the predecessor and looks like a more completed version of "Gospel Jr."… Yo! Gospel Jr.! Rejoice: that's your _aniki_!" He grinned.

"Grawl! Grrr… Garu~h!"

"So you don't want the guy to outshine ya, eh? No problem! The guy's been sealed beneath the ground for decades. No – one can possibly release them: the Committee did thwart a complot which sought to do that about two years ago…" He giggled.

"Grrr…"

"And the other one… Falzer… Created by a human scientist to counter and destroy Greiga… But its power was too much and it went out of control yet it kept obeying its core programming… It fought Greiga to a standstill and both lurched at each other… The clash opened a deep chasm in Cyber City's Central Area… And there they got sealed taking profit of their power expenditure… Alright. Let's try to find Zero."

"No need to. The gray guy slipped away by using a Dream Bit as decoy."

Zero joined him while having some bruises on him and sounding rather ill-humored: Forte merely raised his eyebrows in slight surprise while "Gospel Jr." lay on the floor behind him.

"Dream Bit, huh."

"And it was a Dream Bit SP, too."

"Heck. Keitai's gotten some skill."

"Yeah. Guess that he wants to prove he doesn't need to rely on anyone by now. And I'm sure the guy doesn't give a crap for what happens to "Alive Cell": Keitai surely never let out his location."

"So the priority would try to seize a lead to Keitai?"

"Yeah. The guy has too much dangerous info which can't be leaked or else trouble would ensue. Omega told me that most of it isn't that harmless because the diary entries which Keitai stole had been edited to omit specific references but…"

"But?"

"But Omega says he suspects "Hades" knew something about those technologies. And there's something which apparently mustn't be leaked no matter what or a heated up debate would begin along with chaos and it could move the politicians to take stupid decisions just to please the mob that isn't ready to understand the implications of it. In short: that information could set fire to a forest, even."

"No wonder. I've got a hunch of what it is. Rock Man told me about it since I keep secrets."

"Yet… It'd seem we're not the only ones interested in locating Keitai, you see… I've felt someone's presence from time to time but they remain out of reach, in the fain edges of perception… But I feel like they're on our side and just want to do it in their way… It could be some intelligence agency who might think that Keitai might be in contact with terrorists or anarchists." Zero exposed next.

"Oh well. If it's the CIA then I'd let them be."

"Yeah. I don't wanna mess with those."

"I'll go talk with Serenade to see if we can spread a rumor about Keitai stabbing all hired Navis on the back once they stop being useful or they fail the request… That could reduce his choice of grunts and maybe he'll be forced to use something he made to monitor…" Forte suggested a course of action.

"I like the sound of it. That should force him to show the hand and it'll test the guy's patience. Let's hope he doesn't do like Wily did 3 years ago and try to use a physical proxy to get at someone."

"Oh yeah. Let's hope it doesn't come to that end but the Committee will be handling those."

"Good. I'm off. I'll go report to Gate Man."

"He Who Prays To The Brandenburg Gate?" Forte improvised a long and silly title as if to break the ice.

"Hmpf. Well. Who knows?" He shrugged.

Zero dashed away while Forte sighed and rubbed his chin: he shrugged too and walked away followed by "Gospel Jr.": he failed to spot a normal Navi colored orange and green who was looking on from a higher level and seemed to be keeping an eye on him.

_Well, well, well. Forte. You're learning that battles alone don't solve all trouble, eh? That's some progress. But not enough. Until Keitai Denwa isn't found and captured then we can't close the curtain on this affair: Keitai Denwa could be the spark which could trigger an explosion with catastrophic side-effects. _

"… What? That you want a choco-banana crepe? Stop listening to spam mail and just focus on the battle, will you, Junior?" Forte grumbled.

"Grawl."

_Maybe if you improved Junior's AI by a bit… He would be able to filter those emails… Well. I better get on the move too and do something to help… I, "Zeta", have returned… Look forward to it, gentlemen…_


	7. Chapter 7: G of Giant

**Chapter 7: G of Giant**

12:42 AM (Bermuda Time), Sunday June the 5th…

"… Bloody~ Shadowy~! Come to me~!"

"Sigma. Stop meddling around. You've bypassed the "serious mode" switch AGAIN. And Sir Omega is gonna get ANNOYED."

"Who cares? We've got all the time in the world!"

"One: I never had any interest in that. Two: we're sexless androids. We can't do sex. And don't try to convince me to move to my Net Navi body and do it. I don't need to. End of the tale."

"And start of the fun!"

"SIGMA!"

"Yikes!"

"Turn on the DAMNED switch or I'll MINCEMEAT you!"

"R-roger, sir!"

"IMMEDIATELY~!"

"R-roger, sir!"

"HUFF! Sheesh! Nyarth!"

"Sir Omega, sir. Do calm down, sir."

"Easier SAID than DONE!"

Sigma had begun to try to incite Blood Shadow to something as they walked down a stone corridor somewhere: Blood Shadow wasn't impressed and began to list the reasons why: Omega came out of a door to the right of them and looking really pissed off: Sigma ran off while Omega growled: Blood Shadow sighed.

"Omega. Cool it down."

"That's why I say easier said than done, Boss!"

"Just vent it off, alright?"

"Huff! I'll try to!"

A man stepped out next and rolled his eyes upon seeing what was going on as if he was used to that happening the whole time.

He had jet black hair and bluish eyes irises: he could be on his mid-20s like Dr. Lartes and about that same height.

He wore business attire including a black tie.

"Now, now. We've got to be patient and try to seize a lead to Keitai's whereabouts."

"Let's try the Vatican, then!" Omega fumed.

"Omega. Calm down. We gotta think rationally. There must be some hint somewhere."

"Where? In Hint Land?"

"Oh come on. Omega. We won't anywhere if you remain with that behavior: go have a stroll and see if it helps vent it off. We can't work if you're behaving like that."

"Hmpf. Guess that. I'll be back soon. Later, Boss."

Omega walked down the corridor towards the right and was soon out of sight: "Boss" and Blood Shadow sighed and they then heard the ringing of a PET: "Boss" took a gray and purple one with a purple "V" character as emblem out of his chest pocket and checked it out.

"Colonel Talos… Maybe he's got an update? Good morning, Colonel Talos… Is something the matter?"

"Mr. Vadous. We were waiting in Cyber City but Alive Cell didn't show up there. Maybe he's planning to save it as a very last resource and has headed in another direction. We found that he was smug enough to sign in a _ryoukan_ close to Kyoto last night… By the time we found out the guy had turned into smoke and since he paid in cash then there's no figuring out any bank accounts he may own."

The man who appeared on the screen looked as being on his late forties: his hair was grey and parts of it fell down in the front of the face and he seemed to be missing his left eye as well.

"I see. Well. Sooner or later he'll make a slip. He may get cocky or confident that he's capable of shaking us off. Maybe if we pretend to be following red herrings then… He'll stay for some days in one spot: we can keep a watch over there and seize a chance." Vadous suggested after thinking about it.

"By the way… We received a message from an anonymous source which couldn't be tracked and which said that they'd narrowed Keitai to Columbus, Ohio… I don't know why they picked that place but they seem to be confident of it… It won't be easy to locate the man in a city inhabited by over 800, 000 inhabitants…"

"Hmmm… Who could it be? Maybe some Ameroupe agency is involved in the hunt of Keitai?"

"It could be yet… The letter was in English but some of the wording appealed as Scottish… Maybe the MI5 or the MI6 are involved to some degree… Who knows? Maybe some of the money Keitai stole from small cities' banks belonged to an influential person of King Land origin and they didn't like it so…" He exposed.

"Hmmm… It's not crazy. I'd rather not get too concerned with it. We should focus on Alive Cell firstly. Keitai comes later. Has Mr. Admin issued new commands?"

"He is yet to be briefed. He returned yesterday from a trip to Cleveland, Ohio… He seemed tired so I deemed it was better to wait for him to ask for the status quo."

"I see. Well. That was a suggestion. Take any course of action you deem necessary, Colonel."

"Of course. Ah. By the way… Mr. Zero told us that there's someone investigating this in the Cyber World too… It might be an agent of the MI5 or MI6…"

"As long as they're not as flashy as Bond…" He tried to make a joke to shatter the ice.

"Heh. Then we shouldn't mind about them." He made a smug grin and looked like he enjoyed the joke.

"Exactly."

"Good. Well then. Let us speak again soon."

"Roger."

The call ended but the PET began to ring again immediately enough: Vadous frowned and opened the screen but only static was displayed until it was replaced by a blood red "Z" character which seemed to have drops of blood falling from its body into the ground and creating a puddle: some breathing could be heard on the other end of the line.

"Who's there?"

"… Zeta." A distorted voice replied.

"So you're the one who leaked the info to the Committee?"

"Indeed."

"Who are you really?"

"Who knows?"

"Hmpf. So you want to play smart."

"I might."

"What's your goal? Is Keitai an eyesore?"

"Maybe."

"Hmpf. So you want to play ambiguous and be as vague as possible to leave us speculating, huh?" Vadous guessed.

"That I admit."

"So?"

"Keitai is a time bomb. It could trigger a devastating fire. That would not benefit anyone. And even less me."

"Hmpf. So you want to tackle the affair."

"Indeed. And I will soon have narrowed the man down."

"What if he changed his face or fingerprints?" Blood Shadow challenged all of a sudden.

"No problem. There are other ways to find that out."

"You do have a slight Scottish accent, I can notice. Or you're using it to reinforce the idea that you're Scottish?"

"Who knows?"

"If that's all you wanted to say then…"

"Of course. I'll be excusing myself here. _Good luck_, gentlemen… In surviving the madness, that is."

There was a distorted chuckle before the call ended: Vadous merely pocketed the PET and then glanced at the left.

"Omega. How long have you been there?"

"Guess a while."

"Go out into the Cyber World with Blood and Sigma and resume the investigation." He ordered.

"Fine. Let's go, Blood."

"Roger, sir."

"And let's hope Sigma turned on the switch or I'll be the one to do that: I'm fed up with the guy's stupidity."

Omega and Blood Shadow departed by heading left while Vadous stretched and rubbed his eyes.

"I should go sleep… It's past midnight in here… And I want to have enough energy to tackle the day then I need some sleep!"

13:33 PM (Japan Time)…

"… Alright. Let's go separate ways. Report to me every 5 minutes: Alive could've paid more pawns to prepare traps for us. Beware of the ground, too, and make sure there aren't any mines set there. And always have the Dream Aura at hand."

"Roger, sir."

"Aye, aye!"

"And, Sigma… If I receive more than 3 complaints from Blood once the mission is over then you get punishment. Get it?"

"R-roger, sir!"

"Fine. Then go."

"Roger!"

Omega, Blood Shadow and Sigma made it to the Reverse Internet and they stopped at a bifurcation: Omega issued orders and then glared at Sigma with a glare which could kill: he gulped while Blood Shadow remained quiet: they then split and picked a different road each: Omega began to scan the terrain.

"Got your neck!"

"Huh? Hmpf."

Someone yelled behind him and he glanced over his right shoulder to a see a Cyber City Heel Navi rushing towards him while having a Long Sword drawn on the right forearm: he merely stepped to the right and extended his left leg to trip the guy and make him meet the ground face-down: Omega then jumped to another road and resumed walking as if nothing had happened.

"METTO~!"

"Huh? What! A giant Mettool?"

"METTO~!"

"Shit. This road is too narrow. I need wider terrain… I gotta make it back to the square somehow."

A giant Mettool dropped behind Omega and began to hit the road with the pickaxe, forming cracks on it: Omega cursed and ran ahead of it only to see a boulder rolling down the road from the front: he jumped off it to the right and headed for another road but then someone attacked him with a Super Vulcan Battle Chip and the impact of the rounds made him fall deeper and crash-land in a square some levels below: he quickly recovered and rolled across the ground to dodge the landing of the giant Mettool: he got back to his feet and drew a weapon.

"Get ready."

This weapon consisted of a white rectangular hilt with a trapeze atop it: he pressed a button on it and a thin transparent greenish energy blade in the form of a pyramid formed: it hummed and Omega merely assumed a fighting stance.

"METTO~!"

He dodged the incoming pickaxe and then jumped atop its body: he ran it up and reached the top of the Mettool's hard-hat: he jumped into the air and then aimed the sword downwards while placing both feet on the lower edges to give it further speed and mass: it penetrated into the hard-hat and the Mettool howled.

"ME… METTO~!"

"Now… Eat this!"

He drew a gun which looked slightly similar to a pistol and began to spin it on his left hand's palm before aiming and pressing the trigger: a round of plasma shot out and hit the hard-hat's front, melting it and opening a hole to reveal a Heel Navi inside of a piloting cabin.

"I knew it. The data clusters felt different. So it's not really a mere Virus but more like a robot."

"So what! Eat this! Hell's Bombs!"

"What?"

The Mettool's eyes suddenly lifted as if they were covers and two Heel Navis began to throw out old-style bombs with the fuse and the metallic body: they exploded upon hitting the ground and their throw speed was too fast even for Omega: he was starting to have trouble keeping up with the pace.

"How's this like? The Mettool G! G for Giant! Grand! Great! Nyah, hah, hah, hah, hah, hah!"

"Che. This gotta be Keitai's newest idea."

"Keitai? Who's that? Dunno! Some guy named Zeta delivered this to us and wanted us to test ya! To test ya to the full extent! No hesitation and no holding back! Nyah, hah, hah, hah!"

"Sheesh. I knew nothing good could come outta that Koratta. And I was right, damn them all."

"Ta-ta-ta-tari~! The 7th Cavalry Corps, on the scene~!"

"Quit that."

Sigma landed atop the hard-hat and began to bang it with his sword: the sound made the Heel Navis groan and cover their ears while Blood Shadow suddenly tackled the one in the control cabin and threw him outta it to then place a Giga Count Bomb Program Advance there: the other 2 Heel Navis gasped and jumped off only to be tackled by Sigma and knocked out.

"Huh… Blood? I think you should've checked it twice before putting the bomb…" Sigma gasped.

"Devil. The cabin is rigged with explosives! The explosion could wipe out the whole square!" Omega growled.

"What? Oh devil!" Blood Shadow turned around and gasped.

"Guts, guts! Guts Hammer!"

"What?"

Guts Man suddenly landed there and hit the ground with his Guts Hammer: the shockwave toppled the Mettool and it began to roll until it fell past the edge of the square and it exploded in mid-air forming a gigantic ball of fire: the three of them sighed in relief while Guts Man banged his chest.

"GUTS! GUTS, GUTS, GATTSU~!"

"Mwah, hah, hah, hah! Did ya see that? Ooyama Dekao's rise to Number One Hero~!" Dekao proclaimed.

"Niichan! _Baka_! Chu!" Chisao scolded in the background.

"Wha~h! Chisao~! Spare me~!"

"Nope, chu!"

"At least the guy's lil bro is there to remind the guy of what reality is about, luckily enough." Blood Shadow muttered.

"Sure…" Sigma muttered.

"Hmpf. It's not our business, anyway."

"Maybe you'd like to do business with the Grand Console?" Someone asked from an unseen spot.

"Who goes there?" Sigma demanded.

"The Grand Console."

"Sheesh. That's gotta be a parody of the Gauss Console. Zeta. You damned Koratta. We know it's you. Show your newest hide."

"And what if I don't?"

"Huh! The pilots! They escaped!" Blood Shadow gasped as he turned around and checked.

"Shit. We got distracted." Omega growled.

"Anger only leads to the Dark Side of the Force. Gentlemen."

"So what!" Omega fumed.

"Huh-oh." Both Sigma and Blood Shadow could foresee trouble arising given Omega's mood.

"It'd seem I've gone over the edge. Maybe next time I need to employ a Math test. So long."

"Sheesh." Omega fumed.

"Omega. Do calm down. Anger only blinds your perception."

"Huh? Hmpf… Serenade… Guess that."

Serenade stepped there at his steady and calm pace: Omega glanced at him but he didn't look like he was in the mood to let go of that annoyance anytime soon.

"So they're the famed 3 Musketeers?" Someone asked Serenade over a radio band.

"Indeed, my friend."

"Let's go back to the base, write a report, and rest in our capsules. We need to cool off for some hours and then we'll resume hunting Alive Cell's trails." Omega decided.

"Roger."

"See ya, Serenade."

"Do fare well."

The group of 3 left the square and Serenade spotted Guts Man performing some kind of victory dance.

"I can picture that Guts Man Navi in the role of Donkey Kong."

"I guess that, Mamoru. I shall return to my territory. But this should be a warning. That I shall not tolerate war in these lands…"

"Of course. They should think it twice before provoking you."

"Indeed… Alive Cell… Keitai Denwa… Be brought down."

"Yet… Whose side is "Zeta" on? Or is the guy in no-one's side…?"

14:44 PM (Japan Time)…

"… Oh yeah… You like teasing me by licking me, eh, Raf?"

"Sure, Noa – kun. You're the type who likes teasing."

"I sure do… And this style is comfortable enough for both of us, isn't it, Raf?"

"Yeah. Beware of my newest joke. The phoning phone of phony phones the phoned phone."

"That sound like some attempt at a tongue-twister."

"Guess that.

"O~h… It feels so comfortable, really…!"

"I'll tease you some more!"

"Please…"

Noa and Rafael were having sex in Noa's bedroom: he was sitting on Rafael's lap and feeling how Rafael slid him up and down along the length of it: he had his S&M gear on but he didn't have the blindfold and the ball-gag either: Rafael was teasing his penis by gripping it with his right hand and rubbing it: he also was using the left hand to pinch the left nipple and he licked the base of the neck from behind.

"I spotted our fellows." Rafael giggled.

"Oh yeah? You mean the 3 Musketeers? What did they say?" Noa looked interested.

"That Zeta _loco_ guy came up with a giant Mettool robot piloted by 3 fellows. But they beat it with some help from Guts Man: and Dekao – kun was bragging again. Chisao – kun had to slam the brakes on the guy before he got too cocky. As always. Ya know the drill. Drill, drill and drill 'till ya complete the tunnel." He explained.

"Heh. Not bad, Raf."

"Thanks for the praising, Noa – kun."

"Tease me…"

"Sure thing."

"Eh… Raf…"

"What's up?" Rafael frowned.

"Well… You wouldn't mind it if Tooru – kun and I swapped places every once or twice, right?"

"No. I wouldn't. Tooru – kun is a good fella too."

"Thanks."

"It's nothing. How about I test something new?"

"Sure. Test it!"

"Roger."

Rafael drew a plastic rod made of small beads: he began to move it inside and out of Noa's urethra and his moans increased in volume: Rafael seemed to get in the mood and he began to tease the right nipple next: he suddenly took the tool out and Noa released: his release tightened Rafael's penis and he released as well: he dropped face-up on the bed along with Noa and both panted.

"Whoa. It felt incredible." He admitted.

"Didn't it? Heh, heh, heh. I looked it up."

"Heh, heh, heh. Wait until I tell the others and it'll become fashion." Noa giggled.

"No doubt!"

"Let's do the six-nine!"

"Roger."

"And nine-six."

"Hah, hah. That's a good one, yeah."

Rafael slid downwards so that his penis slid out of Noa's ass and he got in position over Noa: both began to suck each other's penis and seemed to be enjoying it.

_Noa – kun likes teasing so… I'm gonna tease him the whole time by licking the urethra… Yaoi IS fun. Man. I still dunno why it's being discriminated like that across the world. If a guy likes another guy… There shouldn't be any impediment for them to live together or to marry… Oh well: let's think about something far more cherry. Maybe we should drop by Maha Ichiban's and check them out. They've been behaving well insofar for these 3 years and since Wily is in jail I guess they won't be attempting to do bad things again… The Net Police's surveillance continues, just in case: you never know. _

He used his left hand to pinch around Noa's balls to tease him as he deliberately licked the urethra: he could feel Noa shivering from the sudden surge of pleasure and Rafael suddenly gripped the balls: Noa released and filled his mouth and he felt how his own penis also went off and filled Noa's mouth.

_Man. That was fun, alright._

Rafael lifted up and lied face-up next to Noa, who was panting and recovering: he looked in a good mood and Rafael grinned: Noa suddenly managed to get above Rafael and began to rub his penis against Rafael's while capturing his lips in a passionate kiss: Rafael closed his eyes and let Noa set the pace: he inwardly gasped when he felt how Noa slid his hardened penis into Rafael's ass and began to slide in and out: Rafael inwardly giggled.

_Guess he was eager to do something different: and I've wanted to check out how it feels to have sex for a while… Speaking of which… I've got a vague feeling like I had sex with someone else not too long ago but I don't remember anything… Guess it's my imagination. Or some wild dream I had… Let's not mind it. Hmmm… I like the feeling of our tongues touching each other… This gotta be the best part…_

Noa then began to rub his navel area against Rafael's penis.

_Oho. He wants to trigger my release and then go off, eh? I'll grant you your wish, Noa – kun!_

Rafael concentrated on the feeling of Noa's penis sliding in and out along with the rubbing of his own penis: he released and his release tightened Noa's penis making him release as well: they broke their kiss and each one began to pant.

"Sorry, Raf, but I go the urge to do that… You don't mind it?" Noa admitted with a slight blush.

"No. Why should I?" Rafael grinned.

"Heh, heh. Thanks, Raf. You're a good friend."

"Of course. I'm not just your Navi, I'm your _aibou_!"

"_Aibou_, eh? Why not. Oh well. Thanks to this I feel more relaxed and ready to tackle the exams. Once the exams are over and I have the results then we'll do it again." Noa told him.

"Sure. I've got no rush. Life is about waiting for the proper time to do things, anyway."

Rafael unlocked the forearms and Noa stretched his arms: he climbed out of the bed and did some flexions while Rafael did the same: Noa then took out the leather bands which he placed back on the sports bag: he picked a bundle of clothes and headed into the bathroom to dress back while closing the door and locking it: Rafael merely pulled up his boxers and jeans while closing the zip and fastening the belt.

"Heh, heh, heh. These instant materialization Copy Roids along with their clothes programs are cool. I gotta thank Drake for letting me have one of these…" He muttered.

He pulled up the blinders and opened the balcony door to ventilate: he stepped out and leant on the handrail to look out at the streets.

_I've got a hunch that this affair will have been tackled soon enough: it's a small-scale affair, after all. Not like what happened with the WWW, the "Professor" and "Gospel"… Come at full power! Heh, heh, heh!_

07:47 AM (Ohio Time)…

"… Hmpf. So it'd seem Alive is on the run and playing cat 'n mouse with the Committee… And that Zeta jerk, whoever it is, has resurfaced to complicate stuff… Sheesh."

A man was sitting in a sofa placed inside of an apartment and was checking out info using a Link PET colored gray and brown and with no emblem at all.

This man had messy black hair and brown eyes plus some traces of unshaved beard and moustache.

He could be on his early 30s and about a meter and eighty tall.

He had an open brown sleeveless vest, a white shirt, jeans and white socks on.

He was currently mumbling aloud in Japanese.

"Oh well. At least I found this discrete second-hand apartment here in Columbus… Who'd think of looking for me here, anyway? I gave the slip to my old bosses, too, who want my neck after I got rid of one of their big fishes and took out a lot of info on their biggest accounts. I sold the info to the cops and they shut down most of them. It's my payback for treating me like an iPod which is thrown to the garbage bin when the newest version comes out. Not only me: all field agents there! Sheesh. Those guys are mad. No wonder guys like the Committee exist… Those guys need to be stopped." He kept on mumbling.

He interacted with the PET and brought up some info: he seemed to frown and rubbed his chin.

"Hints that the MI5 or the MI6 are involved? Or is it some impression "Zeta" wanted to leave on them? Yet there's someone sneaky who orbits around them… Who could it be? Maybe it's that "Zeta" rascal to begin with: I'd love to figure out who the hell they are and erase that smug smile outta their faces to replace it with a frozen smile of fear… Heh!"

_Heh, heh, heh… Tremble in fear, "Zeta"… You're next! Hah, hah, hah, hah!_


	8. Chapter 8: Deposed King

**Chapter 8: Deposed King**

17:37 PM (Japan Time), Monday June the 6th…

"… Phew. Well. Another day's over… I should begin to prepare the exams for my middle 2nd year students."

"_Sensei_~! See you tomorrow!"

"Oho! See you tomorrow, Asuta. Ah! If you see Kojirou tell him I know of his latest prank he did!"

"Roger, _sensei_."

"Mahha – sensei? There's someone who wants to meet you."

"Who is it?"

"He says he's your brother-in-law."

"Brother-in-law? I have one, true. How many years has it been since we last met…? 4? 5? Oh well. I guess he only dropped by to greet: where is he at?"

"In the foyer…"

"Good."

A man had stepped out of a classroom and into a wooden-ground corridor in a school somewhere when a teacher approached him.

The man, Mahha Gou, could be on his late 30s or early 40s.

He had abundant brownish hair and didn't have any moustache or beard.

He wore a red jumper with white edges the sleeves of which had been pulled back to past the elbows, red sports pants with white edges and sneakers.

"Tell him to wait a few minutes. There's some material I need to pick and bring with me to the teachers' room, so… And I want to see if I find more evidence of Kojirou's latest prank."

"No problem."

Mahha entered the classroom and picked a folder with some documents: he then spotted a piece of paper with a caricature of him and with some loose letters written there.

"Kojirou. The lil rascal won't learn, huh? "Go away"… You should tell that to your prank mania." He muttered.

He left the classroom and went down the stairs to come out into a foyer from the right side of a hexagon-like structure having an information LCD panel set on it: "Alive Cell" was sitting on the bench close to a metallic frame which marked the entrance: some stairs led out into the main door past it.

"So, bro-in-law… What's up?" Mahha asked.

"Heh. I just dropped by 'cause I'm on my way north and I wanted to drop by and say hi. That's all." He stood up and shrugged.

"Oh. Alright."

"By the way, do you know if there are trains heading towards Aomori Prefecture?"

"Huh? Oh yes. There's the Purple Line. The next train would be… At 19:00 PM…" He checked his wrist-watch.

"Excellent. That's all I wanted to know. Well then. I'll be on my way. See ya around and pull some ears. Heh, heh, heh."

"This guy's humor is as lame as ever." Mahha muttered.

"Alive Cell" began to head down the stairs when the door suddenly opened and five policemen ran in: he gasped and suddenly ran back in, past Mahha, and turned around to grip his neck from behind with the right arm and placed a knife's blade against his neck.

"What?" Mahha gasped.

"Ya shut up!"

"Caution! The target has a hostage!" The commander of the policemen warned them.

"Ya better don't move, ya cops! Or else this guy goes straight to Hell with a one-way-ticket!"

"And you forgot."

"What?"

Mahha suddenly hit his body with the left elbow and "Alive Cell" gasped from the blow: he let go of the knife as he instinctively clutched the area above the stomach: Mahha turned around and tried to deliver a punch but the guy jumped to the left and kicked the right hip of Mahha: he didn't mind it and delivered a strike with the right hand to the navel area: "Alive Cell" groaned and stepped back to then run and tackle Mahha into the ground: they began to roll across it and interchanged some punches and kicks before getting back on their feet.

"Sheesh. I forgot ya where a martial artist."

"And like I thought: you've been up to no good. Your big sister was always saying you were the black sheep out of the two of you." Mahha calmly replied.

"Sheesh. Sis talks too much. Women. That's why I never liked 'em!" He grumbled.

"And don't think she'll help you out."

"Of course not. I don't rely on anyone! Take this!"

"Alive Cell" began to deliver some punches in a row but Mahha blocked each and every one of them: "Alive Cell" suddenly ran into the right corridor and Mahha gave chase.

"Damn. Like I'll let that creep use the students as hostages…!" He cursed under his breath.

"Kya~h!" A girl shrieked.

"Shit. Too slow!"

Mahha ran into the corridor and spotted the culprit holding a girl hostage while snickering.

"Don't move! Bro in law! And tell the cops to back off! Today I win this round! Nyah, hah, hah, hah!"

"Hmpf… I wonder about that. Bully." A familiar voice taunted out of nowhere at all.

"Wha~t? Not ya again!"

"Yeah. Me. There!"

Something suddenly delivered a blow to "Alive Cell" head's from behind and he instinctively let go: Mahha grabbed the girl's right wrist and they ran away.

"Run away." He ordered.

"Y-yes, sir!"

"What's going on?" The commander wondered.

"Dunno if I know. It'd seem the guy stirred up some trouble."

"Well. We got told by the Akihara Town police that there was a national search and capture order issued so when we got sighting reports we rushed over…" The commander admitted.

"Hmpf. My wife was right in saying that guy was a black sheep. Always up to no good…" Mahha grumbled.

"How about you show me your moves, bully? Let's go to my home field: right there!"

"You're asking for it, Carnival punk!"

"Alive Cell" suddenly ran into the 6-A classroom, which was empty, and Mahha peeked from the door: he spotted "Alive Cell" and Omega engaged in a fisting showdown.

"Weird cosplay." He muttered.

"Is that an _otaku_?" The commander wondered aloud.

"Dunno." Another policeman shrugged.

"I'll rip off that blonde hair!"

"I'm SO scared." Omega drily replied.

"You're no fun!"

"Hmpf. You weren't lucky. Maybe you'd been luckier if you'd met my joker self?" He taunted.

"Sheesh!"

"Show me your moves. And improvised CQC imitations won't be able to beat me, anyway."

"Shaddup! I'm the king of kung-fu!" The guy boasted.

"Trying to beat Jackie Chan to it?"

"I'm gonna beat Ocelot to it!"

"_Bully Go Home_."

"Nya~h! I'm so gonna cut you to pieces! I'm Cutting Cell!"

"How original." Mahha grumbled.

"Totally." The commanded sighed.

"Man. That was lame." The other four policemen muttered.

"EAT THIS!"

"Alive Cell" suddenly picked a chair and threw it at Omega who easily ducked and rushed forward by skidding: he hit his legs and made the guy collapse on the ground: he then used his gun to deliver a blow to his head and the guy groaned before fainting.

"There. You can have the guy. I'm off."

"Wait, who…?"

There was a flash and Omega was nowhere to be seen although quick running footsteps rang out: the group looked puzzled.

"Anyway! Arrest that man!"

19:39 PM (Japan Time)…

"… So?"

"I know Wesker's looking from behind that mirror!"

"Ahem. Get back to the main topic. What do you know about "Keitai Denwa"?"

"Ocelot! I know you're plotting something! While showing off with your Makarov!"

"Didn't you hear my question?"

"Vladimir! Go bury Gurlukovich 50 feet under!"

"Answer me."

"Hmpf! We were in the same department!"

"So that's how you made contact?"

"And what if?"

"I'm the one asking the questions."

"Hmpf. The arrogant fool…"

Mr. Denpa, Lezareno and Colonel Talos looked on from a one-view glass at how "Alive Cell" was being interrogated in the police station: they didn't look impressed at the guy's boasting and taunting.

"How many did ya screw, eh?" "Alive Cell" tried to taunt.

"I dunno. Maybe a ghost did it." The officer dully replied.

"Che. You cops are no fun."

"Who said we were fun? Don't believe in _clichés_."

"Keitai's weapon will annihilate ya lot!"

"Oh yes? A bazooka smuggled from Taiwan?"

"Nah! Something far deadlier! "The Foreigner"!"

"What's that?"

"Your worst nightmare! It'll ruin the land!"

"Sounds like some fantasy game rip-off… I'm not impressed. I'm surprised you fell for such boasting."

"Che! Ya will regret looking down on it!"

"Maybe."

"Sheesh."

"Hmpf… I'm sure he's made it up to try to make us doubt before making a move but it won't work. Keitai knows nothing of how to build complex programs." Lezareno muttered.

"Indeed."

"I'll tell ya something! Ya can't find the guy! He's in Hell! And only rotten guys like me can get there~! Nyah, hah, hah! How's that one for a change, eh?" He laughed.

"Oh yes? I'm not surprised.

"Sheesh. Why didn't they task this to a weak-willed guy?"

"Dunno. Maybe you ran out of luck."

"My luck is infinite!"

"I wonder about that."

"Wesker! Show me your moves!"

"Hmpf." Lezareno merely folded his arms.

"Vladimir! Your namesake wants to start a civil war with you! Go heat up the Siberian tundra!"

"How foolish."

"Ocelot! Liquid wants to settle the score with ya~!"

"Hmpf. I doubt it." Mr. Denpa fumed.

"Soon! Soon enough… "The Foreigner" will unleash its true power and you lot will be bombarded!"

"What did you say? Bombarded? How? With a tank?" The officer skeptically questioned.

"Use your imagination, Hastings!"

"And if I don't want to? What'll you do?"

"I'll send the Gurg Tribe after ya~!"

"Gurg Tribe? Sure, sure."

"Gurg Tribe, Foreigner…? I feel like I've heard of those before: I'll check it on the meanwhile. But I wouldn't be surprised if they're rip-offs from somewhere. Maybe they expect us to be surprised by 3D sprites ripped off a game. Like we'll be." Mr. Denpa muttered as he drew his Samsung smart-phone and interacted with it.

"Of course. That would imply a lot of arrogance and a reality distortion field along the way." Colonel Talos shrugged and added a slight joke at the end.

"I'm gonna cut ya into pieces! I'm Jack The Ripper!"

"Sure, sure."

"Is that the best you can do, rookie?"

"I'm not rookie. I've been in the force for 4 years."

"Hmpf! You'll soon be stomped over by those guys!"

"Oh yeah? Who do you mean?"

"Them! The Orwellian guys!"

"Orwellian guys? Do you mean George Orwell?"

"It'll become worse thanwhat _1984_ said! Nyah, hah, hah! We're all gonna become pawns in a chessboard! Nyah, hah, hah!"

"I'm SO scared."

"Hmpf. That decrepit and crumbling bunch of fools will rule over us, they say? They're on their deathbed by now. At this rate they'll have collapsed in less than one year from now." Lezareno grinned.

"Ahem. Chief." Colonel Talos cleared his throat.

"Ah yes. I am sorry. I got too confident. We cannot lower the guard: they might still hold poison in their fangs." He apologized.

"Maybe he's trying to lure us into a trap, even. Pretending that the enemy is about to launch one final strike which will hit us hard…" Mr. Denpa warned.

"Hum. The possibilities of it are high, yes."

"And, besides… His earlier babbler was about some popular fantasy RPG game. Obviously enough."

"Hmpf. How the mighty have fallen."

"But catching me doesn't mean ya will ever catch Keitai! The guy's too sneaky for ya! And the cell phone I had is on the bottom of the ocean by now! Are ya gonna dive and try to find it?"

"Of course not. It was an expected _scenario_."

"Beware! The _Scenario_ Guild is gonna sue ya~!"

"And what if?"

"Che. You've got no humor! This is boring as Hell."

"An interrogation isn't meant to be fun. How many times do I need to go over that?" The officer dully replied.

"A trillion million, I guess!"

"I guess you've got nothing useful to say. Well then. Bring him to the cell until the Akihara Police comes in and they transfer him."

"O-oi! I'm gonna make ya regret that!"

"I'm so skeptical."

"Nya~h!"

"Alive Cell" was dragged outside of the room by two policemen: an inspector came into the observation room.

"So?"

"Well. Like we thought: he doesn't know anything about Keitai's location and it's no surprise taking into account how careful Keitai has been insofar…" Lezareno summed.

"In short: we've gained nothing." Mr. Denpa sighed.

"I see. We're sorry that we couldn't be of help. By the way, who was that mysterious fighter who helped capture the man?"

"Oh. A collaborator of the Net Police, a Net Navi…"

"I see. Well. We won't say anything about it and there'll most likely be no sequels… The teacher already said he's going to tell the student that it was a hidden camera show so that she doesn't start to chat about it: we don't want the Cyber Academy's reputation to go down."

"Of course not."

"Hmmm…" Lezareno suddenly looked like he was thinking of something given how he rubbed his chin.

"Chief? Is something the matter?" Colonel Talos asked.

"Huh? Ah. No. I was just thinking about something. It's nothing important, really. Mind it not."

"If you say so… Let's return to the HQ and write a report for Mr. Admin and I'll tell Mr. Sponsor the results."

"Good. We can begin trying to find a lead to Keitai's whereabouts: we should begin by looking up if any plastic surgery clinic operated Keitai last summer. That could be a starting point."

"Good idea. I'll set the Informatics Brigade on the move."

"The sooner we move out, the better… Or Keitai could slip away…!"

20:39 PM (Japan Time)…

"… Well. An evening stroll did well to me to vent off this accumulating tension. And now that we know that the bandit has been caught then we can feel at peace. But we must be ready for the exams, nevertheless, Netto – kun."

"Yeah, I know, Rock Man."

"Absolutely absurd!"

"Who's that?"

"Hmpf… For the sin of defying the King's road… I shall bury you along with your sins! Come! "Foreigner's Power"!"

"What? Uwah! My HP points are being sucked off!"

"I shall rob you lowlife's life and become stronger…"

"Who the hell goes there?"

"The King!"

"King?"

Rock Man had been walking away of a street in Internet City when a voice rang out: his body started to glow with a reddish glow and some energy flew off it: he growled and drew the Rock Buster to look around but he couldn't spot the culprit.

"I shall rule it all!"

"Oh yeah? Think we'll let you?" Netto grumbled.

"Hah! Mere damned humans: how powerless they are!"

"I'm so scared." Rock Man muttered.

"Meteors!"

"Wha! Fast!"

"Heh, heh, heh… Learn the King's power, sinner…"

"Show your hide."

"Hmpf! So be it, sinner."

"Huh? Who's that? Wait, wait! I remember! 3 years ago: the Zero Virus Incident… We met this guy! Pharaoh Man!"

Indeed: the culprit turned out to be Pharaoh Man: some short chains of red energy were spinning and jumping around his right arm in which he held a Long Sword which was glowing with a red glow: Rock Man merely stepped back and began to load up the Rock Buster.

"I am Zangurg, King of the Gurg Tribe!"

"Sounds like some rip-off." Netto grumbled.

"Totally. I guess Zeta sent it."

"Zeta, ya say~? Wrong! It's me!" A familiar voice laughed.

"Keitai Denwa!" Netto cursed.

"Been a while, eh, gnats?"

"We'd rather preferred you'd stayed quiet."

"Too late to regret that, gnats… I've gotten serious! And I've been waiting for a chance! I've been working and I've got several aces up my sleeves, too… Heh, heh, heh… How about you sweat a bit and show to the media how their precious hero has become rusted?"

"Show to the media? Oh heck." Netto growled.

"Ahem, ahem! Kero! This is Toad Man: I am reporting from Internet City, kero! Something is going on: the Akihara Town Hero, Rock Man, is fighting a hostile Net Navi there! Kero!" Toad Man reported from the balcony of a close-by building.

"Toad Man, huh. I remember we'd met him twice or thrice during the whole Gospel affair…" Netto muttered.

"And Midorikawa Kero – san too… Lovely. Could this get any worse than it currently is?" Rock Man fumed.

"Nyah, hah, hah."

"Why don't you mess with someone of your size? Your only problem should be the Committee, not us. It's not our fault that they smoked you out using a Holmes story trick." Rock Man grumbled.

"Hmpf! Gnats need to sweat!"

"How original."

"Be gone, sinner! Laser!"

Pharaoh Man dropped a sarcophagus in front of him which shot out a green thick laser: Rock Man jumped to the right in order to dodge it and then shot a Charged Shot at Pharaoh Man which bounced off something invisible.

"That's cowardly! An invisible Dream Aura!"

"Nyah, hah, hah. If there wasn't this then this wouldn't be half as fun to begin with, gnats!"

"When it comes to auras… I'm the specialist! I'll be taking it! Get Ability Program!"

"What!"

Forte suddenly jumped into the fray from above and behind and his right hand began to glow: the Dream Aura became visible and it began to dissipate in streams of energy which got absorbed by Forte's right hand: his body glowed and he produced that same Dream Aura which he used to ram into Pharaoh Man from behind: Pharaoh Man growled and turned around.

"Go!"

Another sarcophagus dropped and three Ratton Viruses jumped out of it to crash against Forte's strengthened Dream Aura but they didn't even make a dent on it: Forte then drew his Dark Arm Blades and cut a metallic block Pharaoh Man had placed in front of him in half: Pharaoh Man gasped and floated away.

"Ridiculous!" He growled.

"_Baka_~! You're forgetting us! Program Advance! Sword, Wide Sword, Long Sword! Dream Sword!"

"GO~!"

"Mugro~h! You damned sinners!"

Pharaoh Man received the full blunt of the Program Advance and turned around to face Rock Man.

"So what?"

"Meteors!"

A rain of meteors began to fall down in the field but Rock Man merely began to dodge them: Forte was building up a spheroid of yellow energy on his right in the meanwhile.

"Earth Breaker!"

"What! The mouse! Ugro~a~h!"

Forte unleashed the attack on Pharaoh Man and a sphere of destructive energy formed while expanding: it eventually collapsed upon itself and imploded: the resulting explosion greatly damaged Pharaoh Man but he didn't look like he was going to go down anytime soon.

"Sheesh. If only that _desperado_ rascal hadn't gotten in the way I'd been able to beat ya to a pulp!" Keitai growled.

"We'd found a way around it. We've faced Dream Bits with Dream Aura as well so…" Netto taunted back.

"Sheesh. Now it's me who's looking down on these punks?"

"Yeah. Old-timer." Forte snickered.

"OLD-TIMER? ME~! DAMN YOU~!" He got pissed off for real.

"Let's put an end to this! Program Advance! Cannon, Hi Cannon, Mega Cannon! Slot In!"

"Zeta Cannon! Go!"

Rock Man began to shoot several sequences of five rounds each which hit Pharaoh Man: he growled and his eyes suddenly flashed with a creepy purple light.

"Oh hell. I know what's coming… Run, Rock Man!"

"Roger!"

"Shit."

Both Rock Man and Forte ran away as Pharaoh Man began to glow with purple light: he laughed in a broken way as energy got sucked off Internet City and blackouts began to spread: Pharaoh Man suddenly began to grow bigger and bigger until it was at least 8 meters tall.

"Damned fools! Underestimating the power of the "Foreigner", the completed "Foreigner"… My flesh is forever indestructible! As long as there is energy, the "Foreigner's Power" shall steal all of it and I shall become stronger! Invincible! Unbeatable! I shall open the curtain into a new age! The age of the Gurg Tribe~!" He laughed.

"How's that for a change, gnats?" Keitai laughed.

"I object. Self-destruct program: activate."

"MUGRO~H!"

Pharaoh Man's body suddenly glowed and was surrounded by flames which formed from the inside: it began to be slowly deleted as the size dramatically decreased to finally vanish in a shower of pixels: both Forte and Rock Man spotted a golden Heel Navi atop a building for a second before it exited the Cyber World.

"Impossible~! Uwa~h!"

"That was… "Zeta"!" Rock Man guessed.

"What's the deal?" Forte wondered.

_I don't know, niisan, but… I've got a bad feeling about this… Why…?_


	9. Chapter 9: Extreme Edge

**Chapter 9: Extreme Edge**

12:02 PM (Japan Time), Tuesday June the 7th…

"… Mwah, hah, hah, hah!"

"What's with that mood, Hinoken?"

"Heh, heh, heh, heh, heh!"

"Oi. Big boy. Explain."

"Nyah, hah, hah, hah, hah!"

"Trouble?"

Hinoken was laughing inside of the Maha Ichiban's storeroom: Count Elec, Iroaya Madoi and Maha Jarama stepped inside to try to find out what was going on: two Net Police detectives were looking on from the main room with suspicious faces.

"Do you think that…?" One asked.

"That he's gone mad? I'm not sure. Let's not take our eyes off that guy or else we'll get scolded by Commissioner Kifune."

"Hinoken – sama? Why are you… hum… ecstatic?" Fire Man asked with prudence.

"I've got a bad feeling about this. I really have." Elec Man grumbled and folded his arms.

"Madoi~… What's going on?" Colored Man asked.

"I do not know." Magic Man replied.

"You know WHAT?" He turned around, grinning.

"What?"

"You don't know, EH?"

"Know WHAT?"

"You DON'T know what's happened to ME?"

"No." They all replied.

"Ya won't believe it!"

"Try us."

"Heh, heh, heh. Are ya ready?" He teased.

"Just tell us!"

"I got THIS!"

He drew a piece of paper with the words "Great Luck" written on it: the whole group sighed out of exasperation.

"I'm going to get the lottery~! The Arson Lottery~!"

"A-Arson Lottery~?" They all asked in disbelief.

"A fella named Troll – F told me!"

"Troll – F?" They all wondered.

"That'd be me~…" A familiar voice giggled.

"Who?" They all asked.

They drew their PETs and looked at them: Forte had stepped into the Cyber World while bringing the cloak up to cover his jaw and mouth yet he had that amused glare to him.

"Ya are the one who made the big boy get cocky?" Madoi asked without being impressed.

"Yessir. Mistress."

"Well. Do as cha like. As long as the guy works…"

"_Well_! That wasn't a _good idea_, _no_!" Count Elec grumbled.

"Indeed it wasn't." Maha grumbled next.

"Trouble?" One of the detectives asked the other.

"Not sure anymore… Maybe we should contact our superior?"

"Guess we need to."

"Or else we'll get scolded…"

"And they'll swap your fedora and hat!" Forte laughed.

"HUH?" They looked like they didn't get the joke.

"Forte~… What's with the fedora and the hat?" Colored Man scratched his head.

"Worthless." Elec Man scoffed.

"Please…" Magic Man sighed.

"You lowlife…" Fire Man grumbled.

"Oho. Burning with arson passion?"

"Arson passion? Don't say that!"

"Oh yeah? What happened 3 years ago, in April?" Forte brought up with a grin.

"Huh! Well… Hum… T-that's… That was… Orders! Orders!" He tried to waltz outta it.

"Fire Man…" Elec Man directed a hostile glare at him.

"Oi! Hinoken – sama told me: "set fire to that oven!" so I obeyed! I obey Hinoken – sama's orders!" He protested.

"Hmpf. Well. I obey Count Elec's ones too." Elec Man folded his arms and looked like he didn't want Fire Man trying to use that as excuse.

"Don't we all have absolutely loyalty to our Operators?" Magic Man brought up as if proving it was a moot argument.

"Dunno~… I'm the weird guy~… Heh, heh, heh." Colored Man improved a joke on the spot.

"… So? What do you think of it, sir?" One detective asked over the PET.

"Hmmm… Hard to say… Maybe he's testing them?"

"It could be, yet… It's too vague… You can't call falling for a joke "indication of return to criminal activity", right, sir?" The other detective sounded doubtful.

"Of course not! Huff. Just keep an eye out on Hinoken. If he gets cocky and tries to do something weird then you can arrest him in charges of arson and breaking the conditional liberty."

"Roger, sir."

"The others look like they won't give a credit for what Hinoken does yet keep an eye on them nevertheless."

"Understood, sir."

"So then! Inspector Megure, my fellow! Did you say Mouri has a jinx which makes him call on the Grim Reaper wherever he goes to? That's why there's always a murder close by, eh?" Forte joked.

"SSSHHHHA~SSSHHH!" The inspector hissed and growled some kind of curse word.

"Shash? Why not." Forte giggled.

"Why not feed on vanity and sin?" A voice asked.

"HUH? Who was that?" Forte wondered.

"Not me!" Magic Man announced.

"Hmpf! Not me." Elec Man scoffed.

"Grrr! Not me." Fire Man grumbled.

"Dunno~…" Colored Man trailed off.

"I'm afraid things won't be as easy-going as you believe they will be, gentlemen."

"That speech register…! Zeta! You again!"

"Indeed."

"What happened yesterday, HUH?"

A brown and black Normal Navi stepped in and it turned out it was another avatar of "Zeta".

"I felt like Mr. Keitai Denwa was playing dirty and turning the whole issue into a one-sided battle. It felt unfair. And it was threatening and damaging Internet City. It was better to force it to self-delete than let it continue: it would've imploded and there wouldn't be an Internet City by now if it had…" "Zeta" calmly explained.

"Hmpf. Fine. You lowlife have a point there… What's your goal this time around? Power? Authority? Money?"

"And if I don't have one but I pop out whenever I feel like it?" The Navi shrugged the shoulders.

"Sheesh. Beating around the bush and being as vague as ever… That's what annoys me most…"

"That "as ever" feels out of place. We haven't known each other for years, Mr. Forte." "Zeta" brought up.

"Well…" Magic Man ventured.

"You stay outta this." He icily hissed.

"Yikes!" Magic Man gasped.

"T-trouble. Let's go back to our PETs!" Fire Man whispered.

"Hmpf! Fine…" Elec Man scoffed.

"Uh-oh. Madoi~…" Colored Man muttered.

"If you shall excuse me, I shall go attend other affairs. We may meet again soon enough. Gentlemen."

There was a white flash and the Navi vanished: Forte snarled under his breath and stomped the ground with his right foot out of frustration and bad mood.

"One day I'll figure out who you are…! And I'll erase that smug smile from your face…! I promise you…! I feel vehemently disgusted! Nya~h!"

15:24 PM (Japan Time)…

"… Akira… Aren't you going over the board? You've got Forte pissed at you and that's not a good sign."

"Oh. Don't worry, Shun – kun. He'll eventually run out of it. Serenade will give him a lesson."

"Let's hope so…"

"Don't worry. It's not like he can figure out who I am like that. Just running loose and venting off his anger at random…"

"Don't get confident, Akira, or trouble will knock at your door. You never know: someone might've noticed your Network accesses for all we know and they might want to use you…"

"I'm very careful but not arrogant… Hmmm… Despite using different routes and shortcuts… There might be someone who could see a pattern in them… I'll try to be more careful…"

Obihiro was having a conversation with Akira over his PET and he looked concerned while Akira didn't seem to be terribly worried: Obihiro rolled his eyes while Akira rubbed his chin.

"By the way, the behavior of Pharaoh Man and all were elements copied from the Wii RPG game "The Last Story"… Keitai Denwa can't do better than that, it'd seem." He grinned.

"So it'd seem. So? How about our mysterious investigator? Do you know who they are?"

"Hmmm… I've got a hunch but I'd like to wait to see if I can catch some solid proof… I don't like to speculate without proof… Like those who start a topic in a PKMN forum to discuss a yet-to-be-confirmed game…"

"Alright."

"By the way… Is there some _souvenir_ you'd like me to bring? A miniature Hogwarts Express, maybe~?" He teased.

"No, thank you." He rolled his eyes.

"No? Are you sure of it? Shun – kun." He looked amused.

"I said no, Akira."

"That's too bad. I was going to go to Diagon Alley to get one for you, you know, Shun – kun." He joked next.

"Don't you need to go school?"

"Oho. True. I need to leave in less than 3 minutes. I only need to put on my shoes and walk there. It's close by." He glanced at a clock which apparently was there, off-screen.

"So go there."

"Sure. If I see Malfoy sneaking into the Knockturn Alley then I'll tell it to you as well, Shun – kun. Stay healthy~!"

"Bye."

"_See you around, baby~_…" He teased.

"W-what?" Obihiro gasped.

"Heh, heh, heh!"

The call ended and Obihiro rolled his eyes out of exasperation before sighing and shrugging: there was a beep from his PC.

"The proximity sensors… Someone has stepped into the circle of them and is less than 250 meters from my firewall… Sensors: on! Imagery: let's see who's come by." He muttered.

He typed some commands and brought up a pop-up screen which displayed Omega walking towards the firewall: the angle of the camera showed that he had a grin on his face, for once.

"Guess Mr. Zataki found his serious mode to be too hysterical or obsessed with hunting the enemy so he switched to his joker mode to balance them out and shatter the ice for a while… I can bear with that: at least he doesn't tease like Akira…" He guessed.

"Yo~! Grayson the 13th! Ya there~?"

"G-Grayson the 13th? Oh come on! Omega."

"My bad, Oni – chan."

"Obihiro! Not Onihiro!"

"Blame Mistress Ayanokouji~! And her infinite intelligence~! Heh, heh, heh, heh."

Omega could now be seen from the front and he did look amused and in the mood to pull jokes.

"Anyway. What's up?" Obihiro drily asked.

"My. What dryness. Dry Man was there."

"What's your business?"

"I bring ya smuggled goods!"

"Oh yeah? What are they?" He merely lifted the right eyebrow.

"A lance and horns!"

"My lance! You damned _ronin_!"

"My horns! You damned punk!"

"Oho. The owners wanted some smuggle bonus fee so I'm gonna go to Gringotts Wizarding Bank to deposit them. See ya around the corner of evil and dismay~!" Omega laughed.

He ran off and was chased by both Dark Man (who was missing the horns) and Yamato Man (who was missing his lance): Omega giggled and it could be seen that he carried a large black leather case which surely had the stolen stuff set inside of it.

"WAIT!"

"WTIA! Wireless TIA! _Check it out_! Technicians in Air-Ground Investigations: the top of the top! I laugh at the CIA!"

"Huff. Why do I feel some kind of _déjà vu_ upon hearing that name, anyway…?" He sighed.

He shut down the pop-up and then heard someone ringing the bell: he frowned and looked at his PET's clock before heading towards the hall to check it out.

"I'm not expecting anyone… Unless it's Mr. Zataki who wanted to have some talk with me… Let's see…"

He checked the peep-hole and gasped upon recognizing Lezareno standing outside the apartment.

"Huh-oh… What do I do? Maybe he doesn't know anything and he just wants hunches or hints… Yeah. Surely."

He opened the door and Lezareno smiled.

"Good afternoon, Mr. Obihiro. It's been a while."

"True, sir. What might I help you with, sir?"

"I'm sorry to drop by unannounced but I had a sudden flash of inspiration… I wanted to talk with you since you're the expert in these matters."

"Please come in, by all means."

"Thank you."

Obihiro led Lezareno into the small living room and they sat on foldable portable plastic chairs set on opposite sides of a wooden table: there was a half-empty pet bottle of water there and an unused plastic cup.

"May I?"

"Please."

"Thank you."

Lezareno drank some water and then cleared his throat: Obihiro tried to stay calm and collected.

"Well. I thought that maybe there were rumors about "Zeta" in some communities, maybe amongst gamers… It might be a forum username as well. So I thought that you could help me check it out."

"Yes, I'd like to, but without specifics… There are countless gaming communities…"

"Of course. Well. To begin with… You might try looking at King Land or Scotland ones… I think that the Scottish accent "Zeta" had was no improvisation… We have a Scottish agent stationed in Akita City and he checked it out… He claimed that that was the type of accent someone who's lived several years in Scotland would get… So they might be someone young… Maybe if you detect a pattern there or there we could use those to try to find a candidate…" He detailed.

"Hum. It's worth a try… I can sneak into the forums and just stay on the watch, keeping an eye out… But there could be several users who use "Zeta" or "Z" as username… Even more in communities such as _Legend of Zelda_ fans… A lot of them might come up with names based off the titular "Zelda"…" Obihiro warned.

"I know it won't be easy and it might be a waste of time, a red herring, but I feel like it has potential to be checked out. Let's give it 5 days: if nothing turns out then we can abandon it. Of course: I'm not asking of you to shove asides other requests or jobs. Try to dedicate a little while as long as possible."

"Understood."

"That's all. I'll be on my way back. We need to resume hunting for Keitai before he can come up with something far more deadly than what he showed to us yesterday."

"Truly."

Lezareno came out of the apartment and Obihiro sighed in relief: he then assumed a worried face.

"Heck. Akira overdid it… Oh well. Not like they can come close to naming anyone as candidate… It's not public that Akira has good computer skills, anyway… Let's just make it look like it was a red herring all along. It'll fit with their expectations, so…"

_Akira, man! You should be more careful with these guys! Sheesh._

09:51 AM (Ohio Time)…

"… Sheesh. What can I come up with? I can't concentrate: this annoyance is getting the better of me. If only that smug bastard hadn't shown up and ruined it all… I'd left a name to be feared: Keitai Denwa, Destroy of Internet City! Sheesh!"

Keitai was mumbling aloud in his Columbus apartment and looking both annoyed and exasperated: he was sitting on the sofa and distractedly watching a TV show.

"Sheesh. Not "The Simpsons" again… Go codfish!"

He picked the remote and switched TV station before lazily dropping it on the sofa to his right.

"…the cousin of the actress which…"

"Sheesh. Not these unending chats about cousins, half-bros, bros in law and all of that… Go tuna!"

"…and then it was batter out!"

"Baseball? I always SUCKED at it. Go to Hell!"

"…but they've got a long way to go! Michael Jordan was the best and the number one, Mike!"

"Well, well. Don't get so hot-blooded, Chris! That's your opinion, I've got mine and everyone's got his or hers."

"Basketball next? Pfff… Boring!"

"… and the Red Fury Bulls beat the Purple Mind Tigers…!"

"Football…? Never saw the point of it unless it's meant to be a sport to test your "brawl instinct"… Brawl instinct? Hah! I made up a good joke: I should patent it! Mwah, hah, hah."

"… Messi The Golden on the scene~!"

"Soccer next… It's all full of sports channels, isn't it! Why don't they show some thriller or blockbuster or whatever?"

"I'm afraid your TV viewing time's over."

"What the fuck!"

Keitai turned around to spot Barrel standing behind him while having stuffed both hands on his pockets: he looked dry and unimpressed so Keitai quickly sprang to his feet and drew an M9 gun from his breast pocket which he aimed at Barrel.

"Barrel! Captain General of Ameroupe Army's "Network Troop"! And Wily's son!"

"FOSTER son. Don't mix me with that old man anymore." Barrel drily replied.

"How could you find me?"

"I analyzed the frequencies you used to pilot Pharaoh Man yesterday and figured out the rough location… Some check – up with the ISPs and the habitation register led me here… Game Over."

"Do you think I'll be caught SO easily? Die!"

Keitai shot but Barrel quickly dived into the ground, rolled, stood up, and jumped over the sofa to kick the gun out of Keitai's right hand in the meanwhile: Keitai jumped to the left so Barrel ended up standing in front of the sofa as Keitai ran off through the opened apartment door: Barrel cursed and gave chase.

"Wait!"

"Who is gonna "wait" when ya tell them to?" Keitai sneered as he ran down the stairs.

"Shit. You're not running away."

"Says the Bond wannabe~!"

"Sheesh!" He got a twitch over the right eye.

"Hit a vibe~!"

"You lowlife!"

"That's my motto, Bond's Walter PPK7's barrel!"

"Che!"

"I've got some aces up my sleeves! Eat this!"

Keitai turned around and threw a smoke ball into the ground: it shattered and the smoke made it difficult for Barrel to see: he began to cough as well while Keitai made it to the ground floor and quickly ran into the door connecting with the rear corridor: he slammed it shut behind him and quickly locked it from the inside.

"Shit. The guy had to carry lock-picks around, hence why he was able to get in my apartment so silently. Oh well. I can always find a new place to drop off at: I've got money and contacts. If I use the Orwellian mad guys' name and the old ID card it should be enough to set some meek guys trembling in fear and bowing in front of me!" He muttered.

He ran off into the rear garden and looked around: he spotted a small green Ford car parked there.

"My car. I did well on parking it on the rear… Gotta hurry! Barrel won't waste the time with the two locked doors I left behind! The guy must be circling the building from either left or right!"

He turned on the car and ran off just as Barrel made it to the scene, panting and cursing: he spotted the guy riding into a Yamaha bike and starting to chase him.

"Che. It's become interestin'!"

He opened the glove compartment and drew a Makarov pistol: he lowered his driver's window and began to shoot at Barrel who began to dodge: Keitai then spotted a building under construction which was largely finished and snickered.

"Let's play hide 'n seek over there! Once I find a chance I fill the guy with lead and then scram! That's what happens when ya try to play James Bond, Barrel! Ya end up 7 feet under! The curse of the wannabe~! I should patent that one, man!" He laughed.

He rammed into the provisional fences and easily ran over them and inside of the building: he picked the elevator and selected the 13th floor out of randomness: he stepped out into the largely completed floor which was only missing some paneling in the walls and ceiling.

"Heh. I see. Hence why the banner said it'd be ready in 2 weeks from now: only minor stuff like polishing and paneling is missing. There are cupboards so I could hide inside and catch the guy unaware. I'm a genius, really! Nyah, hah, hah."

He ran inside of an office which was totally furnished by now and opened a large cupboard which had nothing inside: he closed the doors almost totally and only left a small gap to look out and be able to aim on the outside: he heard rushed footsteps.

"Heh. I knew it. Come to your grave, Barrel…"

Barrel ran in and looked around: he seemed to feel there was a trap so he ducked and hid behind a desk in the main working area: he peeked from the left and seemed to assess the situation.

_Luckily this cupboard is set in angle which can only be seen when you're very close to it… I don't mind waiting for a chance… The headlines this will become when the workers come here later on… This is my chance to become a feared man! Mwah, hah, hah. Alive. You moron. Did you think you could overshadow me~? No chance, moron! I never gave a crap for your petty "plans"… I only wanted to see how you handled the Committee guys but you risked it all on the last stake… Meh! Not my problem: you sucked to begin with. Mwah, hah, hah._

"… Too quiet…" Barrel could be heard muttering.

_Did ya expect it to be some saxophone~?_

Barrel suddenly dived from one desk to the other to take cover and Keitai spotted that he had a SOCOM gun with silencer equipped: Keitai snickered and merely closed the door silently.

_I can hear the guy's breathing… Good thing that this is a 13__th__ floor and street sounds are pretty dimmed… Heh, heh, heh…_

Keitai heard some low breathing sounds coming closer so he aimed the gun at the forehead height and took out the safety.

_Once the guy begins opening the cupboard…! Wait, wait! That guy won't be so idiotic to come from the front! The guy will surely lure me to shoot opening one door and hiding behind it! And opening from the side: but during the opening there should be a gap between the door and the main body… I can shot one round and then run out to finish it!_

To Keitai's surprise, the cupboard was opened from the front so he wasted no time and shot several rounds yet they bounced off something.

_What? The guy brought the motorbike helmet?_

"Surrender."

"What the fuck! You're… Colonel!"

"Freeze!"

It turned out that Colonel was the one who'd opened the cupboard and was aiming his saber at Keitai while Barrel rushed in from the left and began to struggle with Keitai: the guy growled and began a power struggle with Barrel: Keitai managed to put strength forward and both fell from the cupboard into the ground where they began to punch and kick while Colonel stepped asides as if thinking it was better to let Barrel handle the field.

"DIE~!"

"Wrong! Take this!"

Barrel suddenly gripped the collar of Keitai' shirt and quickly pushed him backwards to make his head hit the cupboard door: Keitai groaned and was knocked out from the blow.

"Phew. It was a good idea to bring you along, Colonel… This was a close one, really. But now it's over."

"Yeah, Barrel… Yet… It might be the start of something else, too…"

"We can't know that yet… But we can't lower our guards!"


	10. Chapter 10: Incoming heat

**Chapter 10: Incoming heat**

11:04 AM (Japan Time), Wednesday June the 8th…

"… Yo and behold! I'm the First Tale!"

"What's the point, Hiro?"

"Instead of Final Fantasy and Last Story, I'm going to invent First Tale! Isn't it cool?"

"Yeah, yeah. SO cool, really."

"Heh, heh. Skeptical Netto's comeback! Grand style~!"

"Sheesh."

Hiro had come up with a rather lame joke which he told to Netto during break time that day: Netto rolled his eyes and seemed to agree that it was lame while Hiro grinned.

"What's with the ruckus?" Saito asked he joined them.

"I've invented the First Tale!"

"How brilliant of you." He drily muttered.

"What's that? A Mega – Class Battle Chip?" Dekao rushed over there and looked eager.

"No. It's a joke." Netto grumbled.

"Aw man." He sighed in disappointment.

"Nam Wa!" Hiro joked.

"HUH?"

"Oh come on. Hiro – kun. Stirring up trouble again? You never learn the lesson, do you? Boys will boys. Jeez. What a school." Meiru complained next.

"Akashi – kun is the Prank Prince~!" Yaito giggled.

"Prank Prince? Why not." He laughed.

"Yaito… Don't give the guy ideas or it gets worse." Netto grumbled.

"My bad, Hikari – kun! Maybe you shouldn't have bitten my royal _bento_ a while ago?"

"What royal _bento_? You've made it up here and now." Saito grumbled next.

"Really…" Even Meiru didn't find the joke to be funny.

"Oh! There! Hikawa – kun! Cha gotta tell me the trick!"

"No, Ayanokouji – san. I won't. End of the tale." Tooru didn't bother to stop as he headed to the soccer field.

"Don't expect me to either." Noa warned.

"Soccer? I'm in!" Netto got in the mood.

"Let's go: it'll help vent off the bad mood. And I want to exercise my soccer skills too." Saito approved of it.

"I'm going to chat with the B class girls. Maybe they've got some news worth it." Meiru shrugged.

"Tee, heh, heh. So! Akashi – kun… Did ya go for the secret and sneaky maneuver already~?" Yaito asked him when they'd been left alone in the spot.

"Huh? What's that?" He frowned.

"Oho! Is that some trick to beat the rivals?" Dekao rushed in, grinning and eager.

"Nope!"

"Man! Don't disappoint me!"

"It's not my fault, Dekao. You're the one who's too eager and expectative when you shouldn't be. Why don't you go over there?" Hiro sighed.

"Wha~t? T-this jerk!"

"Tee, heh, heh."

"I'll remember this, Hiro!"

"I don't doubt it, somehow. And I feel like my mood to pull pranks is gone so I'm gonna join the guys in the soccer match."

"Alright… But I've got a hunch of why ya call Drake – kun "maid" to begin with so… Tee, heh, heh."

"Sheesh. I talk too much from time to time and now I regret it? Life is ironic with me?" He sighed.

He headed into the soccer field and sat on the bench next to Saito, who was looking at something with his PET.

"Oho! This is big news, yeah! It turns out that Keitai was arrested in Columbus City, Ohio, yesterday… The info he had has been disposed of so there's no danger of the guy using it as weapon anymore…" Saito whistled in surprise.

"In Ameroupe, huh… Does that mean that that Barrel guy and that Colonel guy caught Keitai?"

"So it'd seem…"

"I'd heard of them, yeah. It'd seem that Barrel is Wily's foster son but cut off with the guy years ago." Hiro commented.

"I hadn't heard of that. Oh well. Not like it matters: what matters is that this affair is over."

"Yeah. But we've got something pending…"

"Oh. "Zeta", yeah… For the time being… They don't seem to want to stir up trouble so maybe we needn't worry yet… That would be too _naïve_, I guess. Maybe we should keep some guard around in case they come up with something…" Saito reflected aloud.

"Say. Couldn't it be Sigaano to begin with?"

"Why. It could perfectly be. The skills match… And, after all, back in winter, he only said he was leaving but he didn't say he was leaving forever: maybe he's trying us out? It would fit with the guy's character."

"Maybe we need to suggest that to Omega and the others: it could give them a very much needed lead, don't you think so? And seeing what he could do the past winter then it's no surprise he's been able to do all of this stuff…" Hiro continued.

"Mwah, hah, hah, hah! I caught it! Too bad, Netto!"

"I won't give up so easily!"

Both looked at the field to see Dekao (who was the rival team's goalkeeper) catching the ball and laughing: Netto didn't let that disappoint him and he looked confident.

"There it goes!"

"Good, Dekao! Here I go~!"

One student began to move towards the field of Netto & company: Tooru was the goalkeeper and looked ready to stop the kick: Noa rushed in from the NE and managed to gain possession of the ball, which he quickly kicked to Netto.

"_Nice pass_, Noa – kun! OK! Here I go~! Incoming Summer Kick!" He improvised some name.

"How original." Both Saito and Hiro drily muttered.

"Wha~h! Too fast! Wha!"

"GOAL!"

"Aw man! Dekao! Don't be so easily intimidated! It's but a regular kick, not some super-powered kick!" One student complained.

"Shaddup! Dekao – sama is the best!"

"Square root of 144?" Saito called out.

"YIKES!" He gasped.

"Aha-hah!" Noa and Tooru exclaimed.

"Guilty as charged." Hiro grinned.

"Eh… 14!"

"Wrong. It's 12."

"E~H?"

"Sheesh." The other team's students complained.

"Oh well. Resuming that of before… By the way! It's getting closer, eh, Hiro? B2 and W2!" Saito grinned.

"Heh! I'm so gonna bring out my Hariteyama and sweep through the Plasma Gang's PKMN!" Hiro laughed.

"Tee, heh, heh. The girl is less daring this time around, eh? Unlike our dear adventure-loving White – chan…" Yaito suddenly popped out from behind them and grinned.

"Well. It's a game for all ages. They don't want to overdo it." Saito calmly replied.

"Ya would like for her to be ya wife?"

"What? Of course not!" Saito blushed.

"Guilty as charged! And Hiro would have White – chan!"

"Me?" He gasped.

"Tee, heh, heh. I'm the Oracle of Wives!"

"How brilliant." Both drily muttered.

"And I'm off through the backdoor! The ultimate escape route! The architects have spy buddies who need an ultimate escape route: hence why they build backdoors to begin with! _Ciao_!"

Yaito ran off, giggling, and both guys rolled their eyes.

"Girls…" They muttered.

"There's no understanding them. They're too sneaky." Hiro hushed.

"I'll have to agree with you on that, Hiro. Oh boy."

12:32 PM (Japan Time)…

"… Guts, guts. Guts Man got a present for Roll – chan, de guts."

"Oh yeah? What is it?"

"This, de guts."

"WHAT?"

"W-what is it, ladies and gentlemen? Huh? "Bubble Man's Guide to Evil Make-Up De Puku"… Uh-oh."

"Bubble Man… The guy's suicidal or what?"

"Dunno! Maybe he put on Hugo Loco as perfume."

"Desu?"

Guts Man brought Roll an e-book as they'd gathered in the classroom's Cyber World: she got annoyed when she saw it and Glyde peeked over her right shoulder: he gasped upon seeing the title as Delta rolled his eyes and Rafael grinned: while Ice Man didn't seem to get the reason for Roll's annoyance.

"Yoho. What's up, Mistress?" Forte walked in.

"THIS!" She showed him the e-book.

"Whoa. Bubble Man's gone over the edge this time around." He whistled in surprise.

"I feel like I'll become Jess the Ripper!" She threatened.

"Huh-oh." He gulped, for once.

"Ah! Forte. See, there's something we'd like you to tell to the Science Labs if you drop by there today." Delta called out.

"What is it?"

"We suspect "Zeta" might be Sigaano to begin with: it'd fit with the guy's skills, don't you think so? Besides: he never said he was leaving forever to begin with. It could be a new "season", even."

"Aha-hah! So Sigaano has been making us sweat and wants us to play Detective Conan, eh? The rascal sure has some… eh… courage!" He was about to say a bolder word but corrected when Roll directed an annoyed glare at him.

"Hmpf! Sigaano? Handle that by yourselves! I'm off to telling that Bubble Man guy one or two things!"

"B-but, Roll – chan… Don't overdo it, alright? Else the Officials will come in and then it'll become a mess…" Delta warned.

"I know. I just wanna yell into his ear-pads! Later!"

"Man. That was scary, alright." Forte muttered.

"Scary, desu…" Ice Man was trembling, even.

"Man. I guess that Bubble Man will soon regret making up that title: and, anyway… Huh? Roll – chan dropped it here…"

Rafael picked the e-book up and began to shuffle through the e-pages but they were all blank: the rear cover had no text either and the front only had hand-written _katakana_ written in a rush.

"Man. A scam. Guts Man, dude… How much money did you pay for this piece of junk?" Rafael rolled his eyes.

"Huh… 6-6-6-6… De guts…"

"6666 Z? Bubble Man, the idiot…" Delta grumbled.

"Not again with the "Devil's number"…" Forte sighed.

"I know. It's overused. It reminds me of the Dan Brown book _Angels & Demons_ where a novice BBC reporter says the CERN's logo hides a 666 there and they're Satanic." Delta admitted while rolling his eyes and sounding fed up with the deal.

"Man." Forte sighed again.

"Hugo Loco's haunting us, yeah." Rafael sighed.

"Desu?" Ice Man didn't get anything.

"Ignore us, Ice Man – san. It's adults' talk, sir." Glyde politely hushed to him.

"Guess that, desu."

"Guts, guts?" Guts Man wondered.

"Guts Man, dude… You got fooled. Do ya know what it means? Bubble Man says you're weak."

"Guts! Guts Man ain't weak! Guts Man will beat Bubble Man! Come at full power, de guts!"

"COME AT FULL POWER, DE SIGMA~!"

"GATTSU~!"

"Mwah, hah, hah, hah! How was that one like?"

"Gattsu~…"

"Man. The guy fainted! Ya got a long way ahead of ya if ya wanna replace Donkey Kong!"

Rafael addressed Guts Man, he got cocky, and began to bang his chest: Sigma suddenly showed up behind him while making some kind of fighting pose and yelling: the yell made Guts Man faint, even, and Sigma laughed while the others sighed.

"Nope! He's got a long way to go before replacing Koppa!" Omega joined the fray.

"Sheesh. When will Hugo Boss press the "serious" switch?" Rafael sighed in defeat.

"When he figures out where I hid it at?" Omega laughed.

"Sir Omega, sir… This isn't fun, sir." Blood Shadow complained as he came in next.

"Did ya say something, Bloody~ Shadowy~? B-B-B-B-Bertie~ is gonna ask you out in a date at Hokkaido~?" Omega began to deliberately elongate vowels as if to annoy Blood Shadow.

"Please stop making up non-existent people, sir! It's getting on my nerves, sir. I've got my dignity, sir." He protested.

"O-ME-GA!" Vadous roared over the radio.

"Ops. I thought _shachou_ would be napping by now… It's past 2:30 AM in Bermudas, so…" He looked amused.

"You moron! You forgot I've come to Japan to cleanse up my house here and make sure Keitai didn't get past the alarms and the security sensors this time around!" Vadous grumbled.

"Ops. Bad memory, I guess! Fish memory?"

"KA-SHA~H!" He growled in exasperation.

"Ka-Shah? Why not. I could patent it as my own Fan Fiction Original Character… "Ka – Shah The Lesser"! He Who Shall Date Bloody Shadowy Tomorrow Evening!" He laughed.

"I'm off before I go mad." Blood Shadow angrily sentenced.

He turned around, clearly offended by now, and stepped out: Delta fumed and Forte seemed to have gotten annoyed: Rafael looked like he couldn't bear it anymore and Glyde had seemingly turned off the audio input because he stood there giving them the back and not moving as he read up a screen: Ice Man had run off by now, even.

"I'm gonna retrieve you lil rascal now and lock you up in your capsule until you learn to behave! I won't have enough with switching your head mode around!" Vadous icily hissed.

"Yikes." Rafael gulped.

"Huh-oh." Sigma gulped next.

"Oho? So _aniki_ isn't enough for ya? What you would like, some half-breed? Like Rock Man?"

"Rock Man's another tale altogether and when it comes to behaving he does it better than you, really! You should be ashamed: you've got a mental age of 20 and you behave worse than a 15 year old!"

"My. I feel praised. And Delta Team joins the Behavior Team along the way~?" He grinned at Delta.

"Shut the trap up." He grumbled back.

"Man. Boss! Maybe you should delete this personality and let the serious _aniki_ be in charge the whole time?" Rafael sighed.

"If only it were so easy! I overdid with the serious one and when he gets into annoyed mode he'll spend hours busting simulation after simulation obsessed with beating his own records! He overheats himself and then I gotta upgrade the cooling systems!"

"Huh? What, what?" Rafael frowned.

"You didn't know? Those three were originally built as robots: Mr. Zataki then built up Navi frames so that they can easily switch between their robot bodies and Navi frames… In short: they've got two bodies to begin with." Delta summed up.

"Ah! Now I get it."

"Sorry. I thought you knew. Anyway… I'm gonna retrieve you and I'm so gonna do what I've just promised to do! And Sigma! You start looking around to see if you can catch any hints of Sigaano AKA "Zeta": and behave or else…!" Vadous hissed.

"R-roger, Boss!"

"_Ciao, caro mio! E la comedia e finita!__"_

Omega bowed as if he was acting in an opera before a purple "portal" opened behind him and he was sucked in: Sigma gulped and quickly ran off while the others sighed in defeat.

"Madness… Invitation to madness, alright… Jill's madness is pale when compared to this, really…" Forte sighed.

"_Last Story_, huh? You better leave: the next class is about to start."

"Yeah. I'll drop by the Hunters' Guild and tell them the news: and then the Science Labs and Serenade… See ya around. Man."

15:15 PM (Japan Time)…

"… Oho. So they now think that Sigaano Nogaano is "Zeta"? That's perfect: but not like I'll charge in a like a fool… I'll do nothing and let them get obsessed with hunting Sigaano Nogaano, wherever the guy might be at: he may be far more slippery than Keitai Denwa, Shun – kun."

"I don't doubt it. You better don't do anything reckless, Akira. Or else you'll get into some huge trouble."

"I know, Shun – kun, I know. I did some eavesdropping around the Committee HQ momentarily hijacking a Program – kun of a drink vending machine and they seem to believe in that, too."

"Man. And there you said you'd nothing."

"From now. What has been done isn't included in the pack. Too bad, Shun – kun. I couldn't deliver to you Committee – branded coffee."

"I don't need it, Akira!"

Obihiro was having another video-conference with Akira: he had his usual relaxed and friendly smile across his face.

"Oh yes. Don't forget, Shun – kun! The Hikari Brothers' birthday is tomorrow, so make sure to bring them a present!"

"Whoa! That's true. I'd forgotten. I'll admit that you were right in reminding me of it."

"Heh, heh, heh. So? Will you ask of them to invite you into their mysterious world?"

"No." Obihiro drily replied.

"Heh, heh, heh. It's a joke, a joke."

"Oh come on. Your humor is so random."

"At least I'm not as bad as Omega's: did you see what a show he put up a few hours ago?"

"I did. Man. What a guy. Worse than Dr. Jekyll, even!"

"Maybe yes maybe not as Holmes would say."

"Sheesh."

"Don't worry! Not like I intend to become a serial joker. Beware! The serial madman, The Joker!"

"Oh come on." Obihiro sighed.

"Beware of Cloud Man."

"Why?"

"He'll _cloud_ your perceptions." Akira giggled.

"How brilliant!" Obihiro fumed.

"Heh, heh, heh. Blizzard Man is going to _blizzard_ your heart: when you reach the climax of a novel!"

"Oh yeah?" He was skeptical by now.

"Cosmo Man will invite you to the cosmos!"

"Are you done, Akira~?" He asked.

"For the time being, my cute little lover."

"Stop calling me like that! It's embarrassing! It really is!"

"Heh, heh, heh. I love teasing ya~…"

"More like provoking me!" Obihiro protested.

"Who knows? Guess we need a lawyer to clear this up, Shun – kun. Well then, stay healthy. And don't associate yourself with _hunting men_! _See you around_."

"Huff. Bye."

The call ended and Obihiro looked perplexed.

"Hunting men? Hunters? The Hunters' Guild? What's wrong with that?"

_Or did he mean something else? Oh come on. It's just my imagination!_

16:49 PM (Japan Time)…

"… Cloud!"

"What, Blizzard?"

"Not "what"! Where are my spare ski sticks?"

"Why do you want them, anyway? It's June."

"Hyu~h! Ya stole them!"

"I didn't. Where's your proof?"

"You two. Don't start another civil war."

"What? Cosmo Man!"

"Hyu~h! Don't exaggerate!"

"You two! Behave. Or Delta – sama will get annoyed."

"Red! Who stole my sticks?"

"Guess Bubble Man: who else would find worth on them?"

Blizzard Man and Cloud Man were discussing inside of a homepage decorated with the "FOXHOUND" emblem yet the text had been replaced to read "Hunters' Guild" instead: Cosmo Man stepped in and tried to stop them: Red Sword also intervened and named a culprit.

"Hyu~h! I heard that some miss went and beat the guy up but it'd seem it wasn't enough so I'm gonna have a showdown with the guy! I'm fed up with the guy's scams!"

"You're not the only one." Red Sword sighed.

"Hmpf! Go and wrap the guy in shocking clouds! Mwah, hah, hah."

"You be quiet and try to find any hints about Sigaano Nogaano."

"Say that again, Cosmo Man? This rascal!"

"Hell. Delta – sama, sir…! Please come here soon or these two will fight each other again…! What a panorama!" Red Sword sighed in defeat.

17:25 PM (Japan Time)…

"… Excuse me. Are you Gate Man?"

"That's me, yeah. What's up?"

"My name's Dark Man. Say: were you looking for a file about the improvements of HTML5?"

"True! Where was it at?"

"A "Darkloid" named Blizzard Man found it on Bubble Man's workshops, you see."

"Bubble Man! It had to be guy: what a lousy thief!"

Dark Man came to the Science Labs to deliver a stolen file to Gate Man: Yamato Man could be seen standing close by and watching a door's frame which contained a golden slab of energy and which seemed to be some kind of shortcut.

"Ah. I apologize for the delay. I already relayed the information to Mr. Meijin so we can go back." Serenade announced as he came in from the south.

"Roger, sir!" Yamato Man saluted.

"Let us return to our domains."

"Doesn't that sound a bit old-fashioned, Serenade?" Someone asked over his radio.

"Oh. Don't mind it, Mamoru. I am who I am."

"Guess that." Mamoru seemed to shrug.

"Meijin – sama~! Please sign! Sign! Sign! " Some girls shrieked in the real world.

"Not another crowd of fan-girls…!" Meijin cursed.

"No good." Gate Man sighed.

"Ya mean "trouble"…!" Meijin grumbled.

17:49 PM (Japan Time)…

"… Whoa. So in the end Roll did get to beat Bubble Man?"

"Sure. With the Giga Cannon Program Advance…"

"The guy had it coming: attacking girls' pride like that…"

"Obviously. What were you expecting from such a dumb guy that Wily only bothered to build so as to act as bait?"

"I know. We'd beat the guy with ease, get cocky, and, when the next foe would come, we'd be beaten up instead 'cause we'd gotten cocky and would've lowered the guard. Thankfully enough all of those would-be-new-WWW Navis were deleted almost 2 years ago."

Netto and Saito were having a chat in their bedroom once they'd arrived there and taken out the materials to prepare their exams: Netto was surprised by the news, Saito smiled, and they then got serious when they discussed something else.

"Mama told us that Papa's coming this evening. It'd seem Papa needs to vent off from time to time too or he ends up beaten."

"Of course. And we'll have a well-deserved break once we finish these exams and pass them."

"But, really… Vadous – san should find a solution to Omega which isn't too much of an extreme… Maybe by combining some parts of one into the other… And I wouldn't be surprised if Sigaano comes back with his crazy humor and his predilection for "shows"…"

"Bah! Then we only need to beat all of them like we did last year's winter, anyway… And I'm not getting cocky: I'm just pointing out that we mustn't let that concern us or worry us: we can overcome those!"

"Of course, Saito – niisan. We two and our friends… We form a team capable of overcoming them all! Let's go for more!"

Both laughed in a cherry manner and patted their backs…

**THE END**


End file.
